Kantai DxD
by Prince Arjuna
Summary: When an anthropomorphic personification of a WWII-era warship in the form of a beautiful woman shows up to save you from your murderous girlfriend who somehow grows a pair of black wings, it's safe to assume that your life will never be the same again. CHAPTER 06: MEMORIES OF MIDWAY
1. Battleship Yamato

The beginning is a story from ten years ago…

"Whoa, they're so big, grandpa!"

"Ehehe, I know, right?"

There was an elderly man sitting on the porch of his traditional house with a young, six-year-old boy sitting on his lap as they read a magazine of questionable nature together. It was summer, and the sounds of cicadas could be heard as they enjoyed their shared lecherous hobby together while bathing under the warm sunlight.

"Boobs are the best, grandpa!" The young boy turned around and beamed his brightest smile at the elderly man. His expression alone was a perfect picture of childlike innocence.

Hearing what the boy, apparently his grandson, was saying, the elderly man nodded several times. "Yup, yup, you got that right, Issei boy! Boobs are the greatest, indeed." The grandpa said in a rather sagely manner, making him almost look respectable. And of course, the dignity the elderly man displayed was somehow diminished by the magazine of questionable nature he was holding. Even so, the boy, Issei, who was sitting on his lap while reading the aforementioned magazine together with his grandpa, had nothing but admiration to him, which could be seen clearly in the boy's eyes.

Occasionally, when the elderly man's wife who was also the boy's grandmother showed up, grandpa would quickly hide the magazine to protect himself from his wife's severe chastisement. When she was gone, he would return to reading the magazine, enjoying its every content together with his grandson. That's what they usually did every time they had free time.

"Alright, how about this one, Issei boy?" The grandpa opened to the next page, revealing the image of a young woman in a rather risqué sailor outfit.

"This one is nice too! Her breasts look big!" The young Issei said enthusiastically.

The grandpa chuckled. "Of course, of course…" he said before he sighed. "Sailor, huh? When I was young, I used to be a sailor too."

"You're a sailor, grandpa?" Issei looked at his grandpa, one of his eyebrows quirked in curiosity.

His grandpa grinned. "Yup! Well, not exactly a sailor, but close, I guess. You see, boy, I used to work as a crew member of battleship Yamato back then during the war." The elderly man looked nostalgic as he let out a soft sigh.

"Battleship Yamato? War?" Issei blinked.

Noting his grandson's unawareness of his past, the elderly man laughed as he patted the boy's head several times. Then he explained to him about the battleship Yamato, the leading ship of Yamato-class of Imperial Japanese Navy World War II battleships to Issei, as well as his career as one of her crew members during his youth. The elderly man told the boy everything about the ship, informing him about its massive size and its fame back at the time when it was launched and commissioned. He worked as one of her crew members for more than one year, three months before it was sunken at Okinawa.

"Poor Yamato…" Issei was saddened after hearing Yamato's ultimate fate.

Seeing the young Issei's saddened look, the elderly man ruffled the boy's hair. "She did her job well, my boy. I'm sure she did her best, and she sunk without regret." He closed his eyes, as if recalling his time as one of her crew members. "One thing I regret is that I wasn't there during her last moment. If only I wasn't transferred out at that time…"

"Yamato sounds awesome…" Issei said innocently.

The elderly man smiled. "Yeah, she was," he rethought his words before shaking his head. "I mean, she is. She's our pride. My pride. If only I can meet her once again…"

The elderly man brought up his hand and touched a talisman hanging on his neck. Issei looked at the talisman with childlike curiosity.

"This is something I took before I left Yamato…" the elderly man removed the talisman from his neck and gave it to Issei. "Inside it is one of Yamato's fragments. I took it as a souvenir, or a reminder of my time…"

Issei looked at the talisman. He could feel something hard from inside it, something rough and metallic.

Then, he grinned. "And in case if she shows up as a girl, I bet she will have big boobs! Ehehe!" The elderly man laughed lecherously.

Unfortunately for him, the moment he said that, his wife already showed up right behind him. While smiling sweetly, she moved her hand to pinch his ear while having a sweet smile on her face.

"Ow, ow, ow!"

"What is this about big boobs, dear?" With scarily-sweet voice, the elderly man's wife spoke before she spotted the magazine of questionable nature in his hands. "And what exactly are you reading, huh?"

In the end, he ended up being chased by his wife around the house, leaving Issei alone at the porch. He remained seated, fiddling with the talisman in his hands.

"Yamato…"

* * *

**Kantai DxD**

**Kantai Collection and High School DxD Crossover**

**Chapter 01: Battleship Yamato**

This is a story of the current time…

Issei Hyoudou, a sixteen-year-old teenage boy, simply put, was a notorious pervert, and was very proud of it. Being a part of the Perverted Trio of the Kuoh Academy, he was well-known among the student body for his lechery as well as his obsession with breasts. Many times he was often found engaging in questionable activities such as peeking at the girls' changing rooms, sitting near the stairways to take a look at the girls' panties, bringing erotic magazines as well as videos and DVDs to school without even a shred of shame and many more. And let's not mention about his dream of becoming a Harem King.

And of course, there were many downsides to his infamy among the student body, and the major one was that due to his perverted tendencies, he was virtually considered as the enemy of all women, a status he shared with his fellow perverts. So, he was doomed to live his high school life without a girlfriend. It was quite a saddening thing indeed, but for the sake of his dream, he did not falter, and he swore to himself that he would one day achieve his dream of becoming the Harem King. It was a thorny, dangerous path to be taken, but he would keep moving forward without wavering.

At this rate, he needed a miracle if he wanted to get himself a girlfriend. Luckily, Lady Luck seemed to be smiling at him, as one day, a cute girl from another school came to him and asked him out. It was the happiest moment of his life to have a cute girl asking him out for a date.

Yuuma Amano. That's the name of the girl who asked him out. She was a cute girl with shiny black hair, a cute smile, and of course, a pair of big breasts. To have such a cutie asking him out, Issei felt so blessed. But, at the same time, he also felt nervous about the date. What should he wear for the date? What kind of perfume should he put on himself? Did he brush his teeth properly? How should he greet her? Where should he take her for their date? Those questions, as well as a few more, were plaguing his mind. Being someone who's not used to this sort of thing, he couldn't help but feel anxious.

At last, he decided to wear something casual, but stylish enough to make himself presentable. He wore a dark jacket over his red shirt, as well as a pair of denim pants and sneakers. Before he went out for his date, Issei stopped in front of his late grandfather's portrait and paid him respect. His grandfather, Hideyoshi Hyoudou, was a war veteran and survivor of World War II, as well as a former crew member of battleship Yamato. Issei spent most of his childhood listening to his grandfather's war stories, mostly about the battleship Yamato and its fame back then during the war. Even in the modern time, Yamato had become a symbol of national pride.

"Grandpa, I finally have a date…" Issei spoke, looking up at the portrait of his grandfather. "This is the happiest day of my life, and I really want you to be proud of me." There was a talisman hanging on his neck, and the kanji 'Yamato' was written on it. "So, I'll bring Yamato with me." There was a lopsided grin on the perverted boy's face as he held the talisman in his hand. "I hope the spirit of Yamato will always be with me."

He bowed. It was some kind of ritual for him to pay his respect to his deceased grandfather to make himself feel more confident. And now that he was about to go for a date with Yuuma, he needed every ounce of confidence he could instill into himself. For him, it was a first step of becoming the Harem King. He knew that there would be more obstacles to be had in the future, and he could only brace himself and go forward.

"Alright, here I go."

* * *

It was quite an eventful day for Issei as he went out with Yuuma for a date. They did a lot of things: watched a movie, shopped for clothes, shared a cup of ice cream, and many more. The boy could only wish that such blissful moments could last forever.

And now it was almost sunset, and both of them were at the park. It would be the time for both of them to part ways, but it was also the moment Issei was waiting for. The scenery, with the sun setting in the background, was ideal for a love confession, and he knew that Yuuma would make her love confession to him. And if things went well, he might be able to get himself a kiss. His first kiss, in fact.

"Hey, Issei-kun…"

Yuuma spoke with her soft, gentle voice, and Issei couldn't help but to be mesmerized by the melodious tone of the girl's voice.

"What is it, Yuuma-chan?"

Issei tried his best to sound and look cool as he responded to Yuuma.

"There is something I want to do to celebrate our first date. Will you listen to my wish?" Yuuma tilted her head cutely, and Issei could feel his heart skipping a beat. Was it really a love confession? Or was it a kiss? The anticipation was almost torturous for the boy.

"W-well, what is the w-wish that you want?" The boy almost made a fool out of himself by stuttering like a complete dork. But he couldn't help himself. The image of himself pressing his lips against those lips of hers made him feel like his heart might end up bursting out of his ribcage. Still, it was a careless mistake.

Still smiling sweetly, Yuuma stated her wish.

"Issei-kun… will you die for me?"

"Huh?"

Issei blinked in confusion. At first, he thought that Yuuma was just joking. What was she saying? Her wish did not make any sense to the boy. Then, to add more to his confusion, a pair of black wings emerged from Yuuma's back, stretching to their full lengths, scattering countless jet black feathers everywhere. She made a few experimental flaps several times before she looked at Issei with her violet eyes.

Somehow, those eyes did no longer radiate warmth. Instead, they were filled with contempt and disdain. Her lips curled up into a sinister smirk before she spoke, "It was fun, Issei-kun. The short time I spent with you, I mean. It felt like playing house with a child." Her tone was cold and merciless, and she looked at Issei with a disdainful sneer.

Issei froze. He greatly enjoyed all the moments he spent with Yuuma the whole day, all of them. To have someone telling him that it was nothing more than playing house with a child, it made him feel that all those moments were nothing but mere illusions. He did nothing as Yuuma held out her hand, a violet spear made of light appeared out of nothingness. She swung the light a few times in the air before she looked at Issei with a sneer.

"Well then, playtime's over. Let's end this, shall we?"

Issei was unable to tell what to believe anymore. Was it all a lie? Did he get all worked up for nothing? This was pathetic. His grandfather might be very disappointed in him.

As Issei remained standing still, Yuuma hurled the spear of light towards him, aiming to stab him in the chest.

_**Move.**_

There was a voice whispering inside his head, and he immediately ducked, avoiding the spear of light that sailed past his head. He could feel the spear cutting a few strands of his hair as it flew past him. It surely snapped him out of his paralyzed state as his eyes focused on Yuuma, who was frowning as the spear that she hurled at him did not hit its mark.

"Oh, why did you duck, Issei-kun?" Yuuma asked in innocent tone as two more light spears materialized in the air before she held them with both hands. "You should just let it stab you in your chest. It'll be less painful that way…" she giggled as she flapped her wings again, scattering more black feathers around the area.

Knowing that he would be doomed if he stayed still, Issei spun on his heel and sprinted away, running for his life. There was something that urged him other than his survival instinct to run away from Yuuma. He couldn't tell, and considering the situation he was currently in, he had no time to think about it. He needed to get away from her as he couldn't afford to let himself killed. He needed to survive.

More than anything, he needed to get away from her, alive.

Behind him, Yuuma kept pursuing him, cackling while hurling the spears of light towards him. She propelled herself using her black wings.

"What's the matter, Issei-kun? Why are you running away?" Yuuma said mockingly. "Come on! This won't hurt much!" Then, one of her spears of light stabbed through Issei's thigh, and he let out a pained scream before he fell to the pavement.

"Argh… uh… urgh…" Pool of blood started to form from where the spear had stabbed him. It was excruciating, like having a thousand of needles pricked through his flesh at the same time, and the light from the spear was burning from inside. When he tried to pull the spear out of his thigh, it burned his palm, and he screamed again.

Seeing that her prey was downed, Yuuma strutted over to Issei, displaying a seductive smirk on her beautiful visage. Yet her violet eyes were radiating pure malevolence as she looked at him, as if seeing a squashed cockroach. As she stood before him, she leaned forward, giving him a clear view of her cleavage before she grabbed the shaft of the spear of light that stabbed him on his thigh. She did a suggestive motion as she moved her hand up and down while holding the shaft before she pulled the spear out roughly, causing the boy to let out another scream of pain.

Losing too much blood, Issei could feel his vision blurring. Yuuma smirked as she touched Issei's chin, stroking his face in a rather intimate manner.

"Sorry." Yuuma said without any hint of remorse in her tone and expression. "You were a threat to us, so we decided to get rid of you early. If you want to hold a grudge, then hate the God that put the Sacred Gear inside you."

Issei honestly had no idea what Yuuma was saying, but from what he could tell, there was a reason behind her attacking him and attempting to take his life, a reason which he was unaware of. He could see Yuuma raising the spear of light in her hand, as if prepared to stab him in his chest. If that spear were to be stabbed into his chest, it would surely kill him, no question asked.

His parents might lament his death, that's for sure. Despite him being a social outcast, he still knew that his parents loved him all the same. He knew that they would be devastated by his untimely passing. He regretted not being able to do more to his parents.

He also knew that his grandfather might be disappointed in him for dying in such way. Unconsciously, he brought his hand to the talisman hanging on his neck, and he could feel the piece of metal inside it.

_"Sorry… I disappointed you, grandpa…"_

There was nothing he could do as Yuuma moved her spear to stab him in the chest. It would pierce his lung and heart, and he would be killed instantly.

_"I guess I have no right to inherit the spirit of Yamato, after all. I have no right to inherit your pride. Sorry for being such a failure, grandpa."_

He kept holding on the talisman with his bloodied hand as tears started to gather in the boy's eyes.

The spear was about to stab him in his chest when a soft voice whispered from inside his head.

_**Do not despair.**_

He was engulfed in blinding light and Yuuma recoiled, pulling back and jumped a few meters back. The talisman he was holding in his hand was glowing brightly before it faded. Then he found out that he was surrounded by some kind of beehive-patterned barrier. Yuuma's eyes widened as she saw what had transpired before her.

_**You have every right to inherit my pride, the inner fire within the hearts of the people of our proud nation.**_

"W-what?!" Yuuma was shocked to see the beehive-pattered barrier that formed around the boy. "Tch, no matter! Just because you just awakened to your Sacred Gear, that doesn't mean you can get away from me!" She bellowed as she formed almost a dozen spears of light and willed them to strike him at the same time.

Issei brought his arm to his face to brace himself from the strikes, but all the spears were blocked by the barrier that surrounded him. His eyes widened in shock and amazement when the barrier stopped all the spears from reaching him.

_**You have every right to inherit my spirit, the unshakable will that lays within the souls of the men of our country.**_

"You insolent human!" Yuuma roared as she formed more spears to attack Issei, but like before, all of them were stopped by the barrier. "Die!" She tried again, but failed.

_**Now, call me. Call my name. Let my spirit be awakened once more and let the world bear witness to my might.**_

Issei had no time to be confused. The voice was gentle, yet was brimming with confidence and power. Holding the talisman tightly against his chest, he did what the voice told him to do.

"Answer me, YAMATO!"

As if answering to Issei's voice, a figure started to form in thin air, taking a humanoid shape. Then the details of the figure became sharper, and Issei was able to take a good look at it. The figure took the shape of a beautiful young woman clad in sleeveless white blouse with detached sleeves, red miniskirt and black thigh-high socks. Her silky, dark brown hair was tied into an elegant ponytail, adorned by quite an elaborate headpiece. Issei swore that he could see pink sakura petals adorning the headpiece. She was seen holding a parasol, and Issei noted that she had quite an amazing pair of breasts.

The thing that caught his attention more than the beautiful young woman's breasts was the metallic equipment attached to her back. Surrounding her were cannons, World War II-era cannons that should be impossible for someone like her to lift. The barrels then moved, as if controlled by the woman as all of them were aimed at Yuuma.

"W-wha…?" Issei was dumbfounded, of course, after seeing the appearance of the beautiful woman armed with cannons that could potentially destroy the entirety of the school buildings of Kuoh Academy.

As if noting Issei's confusion, the woman glanced over her shoulder before she turned around due to the fact that her cannons were hindering her from looking behind.

"Greetings…" The woman spoke politely. "I am Yamato, the Yamato-class battleship Kanmusu." She displayed such an angelic smile, which made Issei almost forget the pain that he experienced earlier. "I am pleased to meet you, Issei Hyoudou."

"Uh, n-nice to meet y-" before Issei could finish, Yuuma hurled five spears of light at Yamato, and all of them were blocked by the beehive-patterned barrier that protected Issei earlier.

"What are you?!" Yuuma snarled as she expanded her wings.

Wordlessly, the woman, Yamato, turned around and looked at Yuuma. Then, without saying anything, she moved the barrel of one of her cannons and fired. The firing generated an explosion that almost shook the area.

Boom!

The shot narrowly missed Yuuma as it hit the pavement right behind her, causing another explosion. There was a crater the size of a truck as the dust dissipated.

Issei could see one of the barrels smoking, while the other three were pointed at Yuuma. The winged girl took a few steps back as all the cannons were aimed at her.

"That is only a warning shot." Yamato spoke. Despite the soft tone of her voice, Yuuma froze, as if noting the threat that Yamato had given to her. "Stop what you are doing at once or I'll shoot. Your choice."

Yuuma was given an ultimatum; leave and be left alive, or stay and be obliterated. With a growl, she flapped her black wings and ascended to the sky, flying away, leaving both Yamato and Issei on the ground.

Seeing that Yuuma had ran away, Yamato turned around and smiled at Issei. "Are you alright?" She asked before she looked at the wound on Issei's thigh. "Oh my…" she brought her hand to her mouth, realizing how grievous the boy's injury was.

"Uh…" Issei tried to get up, but due to the pain and the loss of blood, he lost his balance, falling on his back. The loss of blood caused him to feel lightheaded. Everything started to darken, and the last thing he heard before losing his consciousness was Yamato's warm, gentle voice as a soft, delicate hand touched his forehead.

"Please rest, Admiral. From now on, leave everything to me."

* * *

Issei Hyoudou felt comfortable. He felt like he was wrapped in his warm blanket on his comfy bed. And not to mention he was snuggling against something warm. Some kind of floral fragrance that came from nowhere also made him feel more comfortable.

_"Fufufu, wake uuup~ or I'll cut you up to pieceeees~"_

The boy felt like he had to wake up as his alarm clock started to ring (it was yandere version for the day, by the way), but decided against it as he continued snuggling against his warm pillow. It surely was soft and comfy, just like a girl's flesh. He swore that he might have touched something totally soft which felt like groping a pair of Oppai.

But then, his mind froze when he heard a moaning voice.

"Ahn!"

His eyes were still closed, and he was still snuggling against the soft pillow, where that voice seemingly came from. After a few seconds, he gave it another experimental squeeze.

"Kya!"

Such a sweet, cute voice. Issei could feel his heart racing. Should he open his eyes? Or should he not? It was like Schrodinger's cat; he had yet to see what he was snuggling against. There was a chance that it might be a new pillow that could generate girly voice while being groped, or it might be a real girl, after all. Of course, there were a couple of holes in both theories. He didn't remember buying such a pillow before. Also, it had to be impossible for him to sleep together with a girl on the same bed.

Oh well, there was only one way to find out, of course. He opened his eyes and looked at his pillow.

"Eh?"

Not only that he found himself sleeping almost naked, he was also snuggling against a naked girl with dark brown hair. With not even a single thread to cover the girl, Issei was able to see the entirety of the girl's naked flesh, breasts and all. His eyes were wide. Being a pervert, he's used to this kind of sight, but it was his first time seeing a naked girl in front of him, in flesh.

"I-it tickles…"

The girl mumbled, and Issei immediately let the girl go and retreated back. But he was still eyeing the naked girl as she stirred from her slumber before she slowly woke up.

"Umu, umu…" the naked girl mumbled cutely as she woke up and sat up on Issei's bed, rubbing her eyes before she looked at Issei. She blinked a few times before she looked down to see her mountainous assets, and then back to Issei. Then she tilted her head cutely.

"Uh…" Issei was trying to come up with something. He feared that he might receive a retribution for having a naked girl sleeping on the same bed as him. In fact, he expected getting a punch in his face for snuggling against her.

When the naked girl started to realize what was happening, her cheeks reddened before she brought her hands up to cover her breasts, which small to no success, considering how big those boobs of her were. Her expression seemed bashful, but there was no sign of aggressiveness whatsoever as she spoke, "D-don't stare too much. I-it's embarrassing."

Issei's mouth dropped open as he saw the pure, unadulterated display of 'moe' from the girl. He could feel his blood rising, and when it was about to spill out of his nostrils, he immediately brought his hand up to stop the bleeding.

The girl then took the blanket from Issei and covered herself. Luckily enough, despite being unclothed, Issei was still in his boxers.

Face still red, the girl looked at Issei with concern. "How is your thigh? Does it still hurt?"

"My thigh?" Issei blinked before a myriad of memories surged in as he remembered what happened back then at the park, where the girl he was dating with attempted to murder him. She was also apparently some sort of winged humanoid. "D-did it really happen? Y-Yuuma-chan… did she try to kill me?"

"Seems to be that way, Admiral." The girl nodded.

"Admiral?" Issei gave the girl a strange look. He remembered seeing the girl showing up to rescue him from being killed by Yuuma. "Wait, y-you're…"

The girl smiled. "Yes, I am Yamato, the Yamato-class battleship Kanmusu. I am born from the shard of original Yamato that you possess, Admiral." She pointed at the bedside drawer, where the Yamato talisman was placed. "I have been watching over you for years, but it is my first time being able to talk to you, so please take a good care of me." Yamato bowed.

"Uh… y-yeah," Issei responded lamely. "Umm… what is Kanmusu?"

"Shipgirl," Yamato answered simply.

"Shipgirl?" Issei's confusion grew.

"Ah, sorry. I should've elaborated it more." Yamato said apologetically. "You see, I'm not a human. I am the spirit that lingers within the piece of Yamato you possess, and I managed to manifest this form thanks to you, Admiral." She smiled sweetly. "The one who tried to kill you was a Fallen Angel. There had to be some reason why she tried to kill you."

"Uh…" Now Issei was getting more confused. "W-wait, wait, let me try to understand it first. So, you're a spirit?"

"That is right." Yamato nodded. "Well, technically, 'spirit' is more like a misnomer, since if we want to get technical, I belong to the species of youkai. Specifically, I am a tsukumogami, a youkai that was originally an inanimate object that gains sentience." She held out one hand as she continued her explanation. "In my case, the inanimate object is the shard of the original Yamato. As to why I gained a female body, well…" she blushed a little. "You know that ships are referred to as 'she', right?"

"Ah…" Now Issei started to understand what Yamato meant. "I guess I can understand that." It still didn't explain why Yamato took the shape of a young woman with voluptuous body, though. Not that he's going to complain anytime soon, of course. "But… why?"

"Why?" Yamato frowned.

"Why did you show up?" There were a lot of things that Issei had yet to understand, but he wanted to know why Yamato showed up at the moment he was about to be killed by Yuuma. "Not that I didn't appreciate it, but…" there was a sad smile on Issei's face. "I almost gave up when Yuuma-chan was about to kill me. At that time, I didn't think I was worthy of inheriting Yamato's pride. I thought that my grandpa might be disappointed in me." He said self-depreciatively. "I just… didn't want to tarnish Yamato's pride when I embarrassed myself at that time. My girlfriend tried to kill me, remember? That sure was embarrassing."

He grew up hearing the stories about the great Yamato, about how famous she was at that time during the World War II. Legends were born, as Yamato became the symbol of Japanese pride. He grew up admiring the beauty of such pride. In a way, he was envious of his grandfather for being one of her crew members at that time. To be a part of her legend, it was one of the greatest thing a man could dream of.

When he almost got himself killed when Yuuma showed her true colors, he realized how unfitting he was to inherit the pride and spirit of Yamato. To associate himself with Yamato would shame those who once became her crew members, the ones who were a part of her legend. He didn't want such thing to be sullied, especially if it was him who did it.

"Issei…" Yamato spoke softly as she brought her hand to stroke Issei's cheek. "You did not taint my pride. I saw everything, from the moment when your grandfather handed you one of my fragments. I saw how much you admired what I embodied. I was happy to see that beautiful admiration of yours." The shipgirl closed her eyes. "Besides, I can also feel the spark of fire within you, something that reminds me of the pride I once embodied." She opened her beautiful eyes and smiled at the boy. "That is why… I will follow you. Only those who can appreciate what I once embodied are worthy to command Yamato. From now on, you are my Admiral."

Issei, who was still confused, just looked at Yamato before he looked down, only to see that his thigh was no longer injured. There was a faint trace on his thigh, but it was no longer painful. When he touched it, he figured out that the healed part felt much softer than the rest.

"How did you heal this?" Issei asked.

Yamato smiled. "It is a youkai's specialty, Admiral. By channeling my spiritual energy into you, I can accelerate your healing process."

"Whoa… it doesn't hurt anymore," Issei said as he poked on the part where he was stabbed. "Thanks, Yamato."

Blushing slightly, Yamato nodded. "You're welcome, Admiral."

"So, uh… can I ask you why we're-"

"Issei! Wake up!" The door of his room was suddenly opened, revealing Issei's mother. "You still have to go to school, remember? Go and eat breakfa-" Issei's mother stopped when he saw a naked girl on her son's bed. The ladle she was holding unceremoniously fell from her hand to the floor.

"Umm…" Issei could see that there was no way he could get himself out of this sticky situation. "I can explain?" He offered lamely.

As for Yamato, she only tilted her head innocently.

**TO BE CONTINUED**

* * *

**Author's Note: **Hello, this is me, Prince Arjuna. Once again, I made another story, this time a crossover between High School DxD and Kantai Collection. First of all, credits for **Rayshia** from **Spacebattles** for the snippet that somehow inspired me to write this fanfic. For those who are unaware of what Kantai Collection or Kancolle is, go check it out. I won't tell you much about it. So, the shipgirls or Kanmusu in this story are some kind of youkai that are born from inanimate objects, and the objects in question are the ships or the fragments of them. I hope you'll like this story.

Also, special thanks for **lojzek91,** the beta-reader of this chapter. It's so nice working alongside you.

So, I hope you guys will like this story, and if you don't mind, will you leave me some reviews too? After all, the more reviews this author gets, the happier he becomes. So, stay tuned and look forward for the next chapter, **Chapter 02: Admiralty Order.** Until then, farewell.

**Prince Arjuna (2015)**


	2. Admiralty Order

"I-I can explain, mom…" Issei repeated what he said earlier to his mother, who was eyeing both him and Yamato, who were on Issei's bed. The perverted boy gulped, thinking that he might be in serious trouble.

Then, much to his surprise, his mother just let out a soft sigh and smiled at him before she picked up the ladle that she dropped earlier.

"Seriously, Yamato-chan…" Issei's mother said. "Don't you think you should put on something when Issei's around?" She said to Yamato gently, chiding her for the lack of clothes.

"I-I'm sorry, Baa-san!" Yamato lowered her head in apology as she used Issei's blanket to wrap the entirety of her naked body. "I-it's just that… I feel more comfortable sleeping naked."

Shaking her head, Issei's mother went over to the bed and patted Yamato's head. "Now, now, young lady, comfortable or not, sleeping naked in the same room as a boy is improper, you know? Come, you better put on something, or else you'll catch a cold."

Nodding, Yamato got up from the bed, her body was still wrapped in blanket before she followed Issei's mother out of Issei's room, leaving Issei alone.

"…What?" Issei blinked in confusion. "W-what's going on here?"

Poof!

Suddenly, there was a small explosion in front of Issei. When the smoke that was formed from the explosion faded, Issei could see a small, humanoid creature that looked like a chibi character from an anime. Clad in white sailor uniform and white shorts, the humanoid creature seemed to have a cowlick on top of her brown hair, and she looked at Issei, blinking a few times.

"What?" Issei's confusion grew.

Then, the small humanoid creature that looked like a girl waved her hands, as if trying to communicate with Issei.

"Umm…" Issei looked at the small creature closer. "H-hello?"

The small creature looked at Issei, and Issei thought that she looked rather cute. She looked around before saw a notebook that seemed to be halfway out of Issei's bag. She pointed at it.

"You… you want that notebook?" Issei asked.

The small creature nodded.

"A-alright," Issei said as he took the notebook and put it in front of the small creature. Due to her size, the notebook looked like a mattress. She kneeled on the note, tapping her stubby, seemingly-fingerless hand on it several times. "Huh? You want something else?" Issei asked, and the small creature nodded.

After a while, Issei realized what she wanted.

"Oh? You want a pen?" Issei asked.

The small creature nodded.

So, Issei took a pen and put it in front of the small creature. She held the pen with both hands as she wrote something on the notebook. It took her a few moments before she managed to write a word.

_"Hello."_

"Uh…" Issei looked at the childishly-written word on his notebook. "W-well, hello to you, again…" he studied the small creature's look. She was so small he thought he might be able to pick her up in one hand. "So, what are you?" Issei asked.

The small creature flipped the notebook to the next page and wrote her answer.

_"Fairy."_

Issei raised one eyebrow. "Fairy? Are you saying you're a fairy?"

The self-proclaimed fairy nodded.

"So, do you have a name?" Issei asked.

The fairy thought about it for a moment before she shook her head.

"So, what should I call you?" Issei asked again.

The fairy seemed to be pondering about it for a moment before she wrote something on the notebook.

_"46 cm Triple Gun Mount."_

"46 cm Triple Gun Mount?" Issei frowned. "You want me to call you that?"

The fairy seemed hesitant. And at that moment, the door was opened.

"Ah…" Issei could hear a soft voice coming from the door before he saw Yamato, this time in a rather simple, sleeveless dress, pink in color. "I see that you have met 46 cm Triple Gun Mount, Issei…" Yamato said as she kneeled beside the fairy and held out her palm. The fairy looked at her before she hopped onto the palm and disappeared in a poof.

"W-what is she?" Issei asked.

"She's the personification of my cannons," Yamato answered. "46 cm Triple Gun Mount."

Issei remembered seeing those giant cannons that Yamato used last night. "S-so, those cannons I saw last night… they were the fairy?"

Yamato nodded. "Yes. The main body isn't the only thing that can manifest in humanoid form, Issei. Everything that is related to the battleship Yamato will manifest in one way or another. In case of my equipment, such as my cannons, they are manifested in the form of the fairies, just like the one you saw just now," Yamato explained.

"I-I see… so that makes sense," Issei said. "B-but what about my mother? I mean, what did you do? She wasn't surprised when she saw you on my bed."

"Ah, about that…" Yamato held out a hand. "Let's just say that once I manifested into this form, the reality was altered a bit," she said. "It only worked because I've been with you for ten years, which means I'm practically a part of Hyoudou's household. Formally, I am Yamato Hyoudou, your cousin who recently joined the household." She gave Issei a sad smile. "I feel bad about this, because technically, I've been lying to your parents. But this also allows me to stay by your side, Issei."

"A-altered reality…?" While Issei might not be a terribly bright student, he was smart enough to understand what Yamato really meant. The moment Yamato manifested her humanoid form, the reality was adjusted to accommodate her existence, and due to the fact that she had been together with Issei, a member of Hyoudou's household, in the form of a talisman for ten years. That was why Issei's mother wasn't freaked out when she saw Yamato earlier, because due to the shifted reality, she saw Yamato as her niece who had just recently joined the household. "But if my mom sees you as her niece, what will she think about your parents?" Issei realized how stupid that sounded because there's no way a ship could have parents, but Issei wanted to know how much was changed due to the shift of reality.

"She will think that I had just recently lost my parents in a traffic accident, and I had to move into your household because I had nowhere else to go…" Yamato said. She didn't seem to like having to take advantage of the altered reality, judging from her tone and expression. "Still, all those are necessary lies so that I can be with you, Issei." She held Issei's hands. "My life is yours, Admiral. Use it as you see fit."

"…Huh?"

* * *

**Kantai DxD**

**Kantai Collection and High School DxD Crossover**

**Chapter 02: Admiralty Order**

Issei Hyoudou couldn't believe it. Never once in his lifetime he had a beautiful girl swearing her life on him, giving herself entirely to him. For someone whose greatest wish was to get laid, it felt like having a dream coming true.

"W-what do you mean by that?" Issei asked. He was still unable to believe that a girl just declared that he could do whatever he wished to her.

"Issei Hyoudou, I acknowledge you as the one to command me, battleship Yamato. You are now my Admiral, the one who will use me as he sees fit," Yamato said. "That will mean that you are worthy to command the fleet of shipgirls. Earning an approval from someone who used to be a flagship during the war allows you to command other shipgirls as well."

Issei's eyes widened. "Wait, did you say there are other shipgirls?"

"Why of course," Yamato nodded. "I'm not the only one who fought during the war. There were some other ships that were made famous due to their accomplishments during the war. Now that you have me, you are now given the authority to command all the warships that had fought for the Imperial Japan."

"So… are you saying that I can have a harem of girls who are the manifestations of WWII's warships?" Issei asked. The idea of having a harem of beautiful girls who were the personifications of ships that fought during the WWII was quite appealing for the perverted boy. And considering how beautiful Yamato was, Issei thought that the other shipgirls might be beautiful as well. "And I'm free to do whatever I like to them?"

"Harem? Well… I suppose you can do that too…" Yamato said. "After all, that is your decision to make, Admiral."

"Awesome!" Issei exclaimed. In real life, there's no way he could make his own harem. He couldn't even get himself a girlfriend. Well, he did, but that girlfriend of his somehow almost killed him on their first date. He couldn't restrain himself from shivering in excitement when he was presented with the possibility of building his own harem.

"But, please bear this in mind, Admiral…" Yamato said. "In order to gain the shipgirls, you have to prove yourself to them first. We are made from the ideals that represented the ships, and you have to make sure that you are worthy of inheriting such ideals."

"Inheriting… ideals?" Issei mused. "But… how about you, Yamato-chan? Am I…" he felt a little afraid asking her about this, considering about what happened last night. "Am I worthy to inherit your ideals? Am I worthy to inherit the ideals of Yamato?"

He grew up admiring Yamato, but he wasn't sure whether that could make him worthy to inherit her ideals or not.

"Issei, I saw everything…" Yamato said. "From those ten years I spent with you, I could sense how beautiful your admiration to my ideals was. Never giving up, no matter what odds. Never faltering, even against overwhelming obstacles. You have proven yourself again and again. You have earned my loyalty, Yamato's loyalty. That is why I will help you, Admiral. No matter what your dream is, I will stay by your side, helping you realize your dream."

"Y-you will?" Issei asked.

"Even if you wish to make a harem that consists of shipgirls, I have no objection," Yamato nodded. "That is Admiral's decision to make, and I have no right to question it. All I can do is help you achieve it."

Issei thought about it for a moment. To have Yamato agreeing to assist him to make a harem of shipgirls was far too convenient for his taste, which made him feel slightly uneasy. But then, he studied Yamato's face. When Yamato smiled at him and tilted her head cutely, Issei could feel his heart throbbing.

"A-alright…" Issei finally said. "I-I'm really glad you're willing to help me, Y-Yamato-chan…" he couldn't help but be embarrassed when Yamato was listening to him intently. "L-let's work hard together, s-shall we?"

Issei held out his hand, offering Yamato a handshake. Yamato looked at the hand for a few moments before she held the hand.

_"Whoa! Her hand is so soft! So nice!"_

"Yes, let's work together, Admiral…"

* * *

After that, both Issei and Yamato joined Mr. and Mrs. Hyoudou for a breakfast. Yamato talked to both Issei's parents as if she had been a part of the household for quite a while. Issei knew that it wasn't true at all. From Yamato's explanation earlier, the memories of both Issei's parents were altered the moment Yamato's humanoid form came into existence. It's safe to say that the reality for Hyoudou's household had been changed to accommodate Yamato's existence. For Issei, it was quite hard to believe. It felt like something that came straight from the manga or anime.

Yet, the proof was there. Issei had seen Yamato the moment she appeared right in front of him in order to save him from his girlfriend, who somehow wanted to kill him. Speaking of his girlfriend, Yuuma Amano, she somehow grew a pair of jet-black wings and was capable of flight using those. And she also was capable of conjuring some kind of spears made of light and used them to attack him. He still could remember how painful it was to be stabbed by one of those spears. Even though the wound was already healed, thanks to Yamato, Issei still could remember the pain of having the spear embedded into his thigh.

"So, Yamato-chan…" Issei's mother spoke to Yamato. "Today is your first day going to Kuoh, right?"

"Y-yeah…" Yamato nodded. Somehow, the shift of reality also included Yamato being enrolled into Kuoh Academy. Personally, Issei thought it was too convenient. "But I'm not worried. Today, Issei-kun is with me," she beamed cheerfully. "And… thank you for accepting me, Baa-san, Ji-san…" Yamato bowed slightly. "Even though I am not your daughter, you two are still treating me like one."

"Y-Yamato-chan, you're such a nice girl…" Issei's father said, tearing up a bit. "If only our pitiful son can learn from you…"

Issei's mother smiled gently at Yamato. "Don't mention it, Yamato-chan. No matter what, you're still family…"

Issei couldn't help but feel guilty after hearing that from his mother. Their memories had been messed up thanks to the shifted reality that occurred thanks to Yamato's existence. He glanced at Yamato, who seemed to have a guilty expression on her face as well.

"Thank you, Baa-san, Ji-san…" Yamato said. She looked like she wanted to say more, but then stopped herself as she continued eating her breakfast.

After they were done having breakfast, Yamato and Issei walked to school together. On their way to school, both of them were discussing about their current situation.

"I'm sorry that I have to lie to both your parents, Issei," Yamato said. From her tone, Issei could tell that she still felt guilty for having to lie to his parents.

"W-well, it can't be helped, can it?" Issei reassured. "Still, everything is too sudden for me, I dunno where to start."

"Then, I suggest that the first thing we do is to locate the fragments of other ships," Yamato suggested. "While their main bodies might have sunken into the sea, just like mine," her expression seemed melancholic as she recalled the fact that her main body was sunken into the sea at Okinawa before she continued, "their shards can be anywhere around the country. A tiny piece of metal is enough as long as it used to be a part of the ship's main body. A Kanmusu's spirit still lingers within that shard."

Walking alongside Yamato, Issei asked, "But, how do we locate the fragments?"

"By these, of course," Yamato said before three fairies poofed into existence. Two of them were sitting on her shoulders, while one was sitting on top of her head. "These fairies are capable of tracking down where the shards may be, and considering that they don't need nourishment, they can do the tracking for an extended period without tiring themselves." All the fairies saluted at Issei. "And when they manage to track the fragments, they will return to me in order to report their findings."

After saying that, Yamato ordered all the fairies to move. Giving Yamato their last salutes, they disappeared, leaving behind small clouds of explosions.

"So, any other question?" Yamato asked.

"W-well…" Issei scratched the back of his head. He wasn't sure what to say to Yamato. Of course, being a pervert he was, he wanted to squeeze those large breasts of hers with his hands, but due to Yamato's innocence, Issei was unsure if he wanted to do that. Well, one thing that he wanted to focus on was to gather other shipgirls and make a harem of them. Then, he would be free to do anything he wanted on those shipgirls.

He imagined what kind of girls might show up from the fragments of ships. Being a fan of the battleship Yamato, he had quite a collection of books about WWII's warships, and those were a few of his reading materials that weren't erotic in nature. There were a lot of WWII-era warships other than Yamato, such as Kongou, Haruna, Inazuma, Ikazuchi and many others. The idea about those warships turning into cute girls made the boy smile lecherously.

"I apologize for asking, Issei, but are you drooling?" Yamato asked as she saw Issei drooling while smiling in such a lecherous manner.

And so, both Issei and Yamato talked more about the nature of shipgirls as well as their needs, they finally arrived at the school gate. Of course, the other students who arrived at the school notice Yamato.

"Who is she?"

"Is she a new transfer student?"

"Whoa, she's a cutie!"

"Man, I wanna date her!"

"Why is she walking together with that pervert?"

"Damn you, Hyoudou!"

"This isn't happening! This isn't happening!"

Both Yamato and Issei just looked at the other students reacting to Yamato's presence. As expected, the boys were giving him evil eyes for daring to walk alongside such a bishoujo like Yamato. Meanwhile, Yamato giggled after seeing the other students reacting to her walking alongside her Admiral.

"Looks like it's going to be fun here, Admiral…"

Issei could only laugh nervously. He knew that the moment he met Yamato, he could tell that his life would never be the same again.

* * *

"Ah, it looks like there's a commotion over there…" a blond, handsome boy spoke to a petite, white-haired girl beside him as they walked through the school gate. Apparently, some of the students who arrived at the school seemed to be fussing over something. "Is that… a new student?"

The boy looked at the girl who became the center of attentions of the students. He never saw the girl before, so he thought that she might be a new student. From what he could see, the girl was quite tall, and her long, brown hair was tied into a ponytail. She was also walking alongside a boy, whom the blond boy identified as Issei Hyoudou, a member of the infamous Perverted Trio.

Meanwhile, the white-haired petite girl beside him looked at the girl and sniffed the air. The blond boy raised one eyebrow and looked at her.

"What's the matter, Koneko-chan?"

The petite girl, Koneko, seemed to be mulling over something as she brought her hand to her chin.

"Her smell…" Koneko said.

"Hmm? What's about her smell?" The boy asked. It somehow concerned him because Koneko was unlike most girls. One could even say that Koneko was special. If she was able to smell something from this new girl, then it would be right to inquire her about it.

"…No," Koneko then shook her head. "Probably my imagination."

"I see…" The blond boy mused.

And so, both of them walked into the building.

* * *

"My name is Yamato Hyoudou…" Yamato introduced herself to the other students in front of the class. "I am Issei Hyoudou's cousin, and I'm currently living with him. Pleased to meet you all."

Issei gulped as the eyes of other students were focused on him. Some of them were murmuring among themselves, talking about this new student who claimed to be Issei's cousin.

"Issei!" A bespectacled male student immediately went to Issei's desk, glaring through his opaque glasses as he went closer to Issei. "What's the meaning of this?! You never told us about this before!"

"W-well…" Issei averted his eyes. He really wished that he could get away from this place, away from the attentions of his classmates.

"Don't you think you can get away from us, you bastard…?" Another male student with bald head hissed as he approached Issei from his other side. Those eyes of his seemed to be radiating pure rage as he glared at Issei.

"Uh… Matsuda, Motohama…" Issei said the names of the boys, who were also the other members of the Perverted Trio. The bald one is named Matsuda, while the bespectacled one is Motohama. "What's up with you two?"

"Don't play dumb with us, you bastard!" Matsuda grabbed Issei by his collar. "Why didn't you tell us you have a cute bishoujo as your cousin?!"

"Damn you, Issei! I know you didn't want to tell us about this!" Motohama shouted.

"G-guys, stop it!" Issei protested.

Both Matsuda and Motohama were shaking Issei. Without them realizing it, Yamato walked over to their direction, ignoring the teacher who was at the front before she tapped her hands on their shoulders.

"You two…" Yamato's voice was scarily sweet. "Will you two please kindly stop doing that to Issei-kun? You're hurting him."

"Huh?"

"Eh?"

Both the perverts glanced over their shoulders to see Yamato, whose smile didn't seem to quite reach her eyes.

"It would be nice if you two can unhand him right now…" Yamato said gently. "Well, if you can't, I probably can help you to unhand him," her smile and voice were too sweet, it's so scary. "If you two don't find any use in your hands, that is."

"Y-yes ma'am!"

"W-we're sorry, ma'am!"

Yamato giggled. "Ah, thank you."

From that day onward, the whole class had agreed that Yamato was someone not to be trifled with, especially when Issei Hyoudou was involved.

* * *

During lunch break…

"I-I'm so sorry, Issei! I didn't know what came over me, so I did it without even thinking!" Yamato was panicking as she apologized to Issei. Both of them were at the rooftop, having breads for their lunch.

"Uh, i-it's okay…" Issei said. "I-I mean, it's hardly a big deal."

"B-but I threatened your friends!"

"Well, it's their fault, I guess…" Issei shrugged. "C'mon, Yamato-chan, relax. Don't let it bother you, 'kay?" He grinned at Yamato. "Still, you're awesome!" He thought that Yamato telling off both Motohama and Matsuda was a nice thing to see. While Issei still considered both his fellow perverts as friends, sometimes they needed to be told off for getting uppity.

"I-if you say so…" Yamato said before she took a bite of her bread.

"Umm… I have a question," Issei said. "Do shipgirls eat?"

Yamato looked at Issei before she answered his question, "Yes. We do need nourishment, unlike our fairies. Normally, our diet consists of bauxite, steel and fuel, but normal food will do as well. We replenish our strength much faster by consuming bauxite, steel and fuel than normal food."

"I see…" Issei mused before he realized what Yamato meant. "W-wait, did you say you eat steel?"

"Yes," Yamato nodded. "Is there anything wrong with that, Issei?"

"W-well, no… I guess since you're a ship, that make sense…" Issei scratched his cheek. "B-but how do you eat steel?" He couldn't exactly imagine Yamato biting off metal with her teeth.

"How? Well, I just put it into my mouth and eat it. It depends on the type of steel, actually. If it is alloy, it'll be easier to chew," Yamato said. "I actually prefer bauxite. As for the fuel, I can just drink it…"

Issei just stared at Yamato. He almost forgot one tiny detail, considering how beautiful Yamato was, but she wasn't exactly a human. She was a tsukumogami, a formerly-inanimate object that became sentient, and the inanimate object in question was a WWII-era battleship, Yamato. It shouldn't have bothered him to learn that a Kanmusu like her was capable of consuming things like steel and bauxite.

"Issei, are you bothered by my choice of diet?" Yamato asked.

"What? N-no, I mean-"

"I understand…" Yamato looked down. "I may have the appearance of a woman, but I am still far from human…" she smiled sadly. "I am a tsukumogami, a youkai. I can never dream of having a body made of proper flesh and blood. Still, that does not stop me from doing what I desire the most…" Issei could see Yamato's expression hardened, her eyes filled with determination. "I have watched over you for a decade, Issei Hyoudou. And now that I have a proper body, I will do whatever it takes to continue watching over you. I do not care if I am a human or not, because as long as I live, I will continue protecting you."

Issei looked into Yamato's eyes. True, those eyes of her were filled with determination, but he could also feel something else.

"Yamato-chan…"

Unconsciously, Issei moved his hands to hold Yamato's as he continued looking into Yamato's eyes. He could feel lingering sadness in her eyes, her lamentation over the fact that despite having a body of a woman, she could never truly call herself a real woman.

"Yamato-chan, listen to me…" He didn't know what came over him, but he knew that he needed to say something to Yamato. He couldn't bear to see the sadness in her eyes. There's no way he could allow such sadness to mar the beauty she displayed. Something had to be done. "I don't care if you're a shipgirl or not. I don't even care what kind of things you eat. I want you to know that whatever you are, you're still Yamato…" Still holding Yamato's hands, he brought them to his forehead, tapping her knuckles on it as he continued, "And… I never got any chance to say this to you, but… thank you, for watching over me…"

"I-Issei…"

Issei could feel Yamato's hands trembling while he was holding them. Then he looked up and almost panicked when he saw tears coming out of Yamato's eyes, rolling unbidden down her cheeks. Seeing that Issei was panicking, Yamato gently pulled back her hands and used them to wipe away her tears.

"I'm alright. You don't have to worry anymore." Yamato said, wiping her tears. "I'm just glad."

"Y-Yamato-chan…"

Before they could say more, suddenly there was a small explosion not too far from them. As the cloud that was formed from the explosion dissipated, they saw one of Yamato's fairies, giving them a salute.

"Ah, you're back…" Yamato went over to the fairy and lowered her body, holding out one of her hands. The fairy jumped onto her palm. "Did you already find one?" Yamato asked, and the fairy nodded. "That was fast. I figured it would take a whole week to find a ship fragment."

"Y-you found a fragment?" Issei asked. That would mean he would be able to meet another personification of warship, preferably a cute girl like Yamato.

"Looks like it, Admiral…" Yamato nodded.

"What kind of ship?" Issei asked.

"Not sure," Yamato answered. "But, one thing for sure is that we finally find another one. And we can invoke the ship's spirit so that she can materialize her humanoid form."

"I see…" Issei mused. "So, are we going to find this fragment?"

Yamato nodded. "Yes, once the school is over. The fragment is located at an empty warehouse three miles from here."

"Alright, let's go after school, then," Issei said.

After lunchtime ended, both Issei and Yamato returned to the classroom.

Without them noticing it, the whole time, they were watched by a petite, white-haired girl who remained hidden as she listened to their conversation.

"Shards… fragments… Admiral…" Koneko muttered to herself. Most things that they talked about didn't make any sense, but she could feel that there was something going on. "Yamato Hyoudou…"

She recalled the distinct scent that she got from the new girl back then. Her scent didn't smell remotely human, which baffled her.

One thing for sure, whatever Yamato Hyoudou was, she was not a human.

* * *

"So, are you saying that the fragment is here?" Issei asked Yamato as they stood before an abandoned warehouse.

"Seems like it, Admiral," Yamato nodded. "Let's enter, then."

Both Yamato and Issei entered the warehouse, using the fairy to guide them where the fragment was found. A few minutes later, they found a metal bar lying on the floor. Issei didn't know how it somehow ended up on the floor, but he could guess that it's probably due to the spirit of the ship within the metal bar moving it.

Yamato had told him earlier that Kanmusu reacts to the others. So, the moment Yamato came into existence, other shipgirls would react to it, causing their spirits to awaken within the fragments they resided in. It's just that Issei couldn't imagine a metal bar moving on its own after reacting to Yamato's presence.

"So, is this a ship's fragment?" Issei asked.

"Yes, it is," Yamato answered as she picked up the metal bar. She closed her eyes as she held it in her hand. "I see. This is another well-known warship during the war. Issei, this is a fragment of aircraft carrier Kaga. I can feel her presence within this fragment. It's faint, but she's here."

"Uh, right, that's cool," Issei said. "So, what should we do now?"

"We begin the awakening ceremony," Yamato said. "A Kanmusu can be awakened through many means, but the ceremony is the easiest way to invoke a Kanmusu into existence." After saying that, three fairies poofed into existence, and all of them were garbed like shrine maidens. They were also holding wooden sticks with paper tassels on one end. "They will be the one who perform the ceremony, so we can sit back and watch."

Yamato placed the metal bar on the floor, and the fairies stood around it, waving their wooden sticks or gohei around, as if performing a kagura dance. Issei watched the ceremony being performed with bated breath before the metal bar glowed.

"It's starting…" Yamato said.

With each passing second, the glow grew brighter and brighter, and the fairies continued their dancing.

_**Go away.**_

Issei flinched when he heard a voice inside his head, telling him to go away. He glanced at Yamato, who seemed to realize that there's something wrong going on.

"Issei, get back!"

She yelled, but it was too late as a figure started to form. The dancing fairies were blown away and disappeared into clouds of smoke. Their surroundings became noticeably darker as the new figure became more solid.

It was a woman with deathly pale skin, clad in white body suit. Her yellow eyes were glowing eerily, and sitting on her head was some kind of oversized hat that looked like a crab or an octopus with massive maw and a pair of round, big eyes, as well as tentacles. The woman was holding a walking stick. There were four drone-like entities hovering around her as the woman looked at both Yamato and Issei with her glowing eyes.

"W-what's going on?" Issei said as he stared at the pale woman. "W-what is she?"

Yamato's expression was grim. "That is Kaga, but not the Kaga that we should meet."

In a flash, Yamato's cannons appeared on her back.

"I was careless. I should have detected the corruption within the fragment…" Yamato said as she aimed her cannons at the pale woman.

"C-corruption?"

"Yes. When a Kanmusu is corrupted due to negative emotions, she becomes a monster…" Yamato said, her tone sounded tense. "We call our monstrous forms... 'Abyssal'…"

**TO BE CONTINUED**

* * *

**Author's Note: **Hello, this is me, Prince Arjuna. First, I would like to thank those who reviewed the previous chapter. I didn't expect that I managed to get more than 30 reviews. You guys are the best! So, I made several adjustments for the Kanmusu to fit into DxDverse, and as you can see at the last part of the chapter, the shipgirl who showed up was an Abyssal ship, a Wo-class standard aircraft carrier, and in this story, she is the corrupted form of aircraft carrier Kaga. Expect a battle in the next chapter, and it will be the time for Issei to shine as well.

Also, special thanks for **lojzek91** for beta-reading this chapter. It is so nice working alongside you.

So, please stay tuned for the next chapter, and if you don't mind, will you leave your reviews for this chapter as well? As we know, the reviews are essential to keep the author moving so that he can write the next chapter with more vigor and stuff. See you guys in the next chapter, **Chapter 03: Aircraft Carrier Kaga.** Bye!

**Prince Arjuna (2015)**


	3. Aircraft Carrier Kaga

"We call our monstrous forms… Abyssal…"

With all her four cannons primed at the corrupted shipgirl before them, Yamato placed her hand on Issei's shoulder. Issei looked at her face, noticing the grim look on her face.

"Stay back, Issei. As Abyssal, she is mindless. She will destroy everything in her path until her grudge runs out or she is destroyed…" beehive-patterned barriers were erected around them in order to protect them from any attacks from the corrupted shipgirl. "Judging from her look, waiting for her grudge to run out isn't an option. All we can do is to destroy her core, which is the fragment…"

"D-destroy her?" Issei gave Yamato a confused look.

"We don't have much choice," Yamato shook her head. "If she is left alone, she may end up rampaging, causing more damage. The only way to save her is to put her out of her misery. As a fellow shipgirl, it is my responsibility to 'scuttle' her."

"Wait, a-are you going to kill her?!"

"Kill is such a strong word, Admiral, but yes…" Yamato nodded sadly. "In that state, she will cause nothing but destruction. The accumulated grudges and negative emotions within her will hinder her from seeing reason. This aircraft carrier Kaga is nothing but a mindless beast who must be put down by all means." Her expression hardened as she looked at Issei. "If you pity her, the right thing to do is to destroy her."

"B-but you-!" Some of the corrupted shipgirl's drones zoomed towards Issei, shooting him with energy beams, and the thing that stopped him from having holes on his body was the barrier that Yamato erected around him, protecting him from the attacks.

The corrupted shipgirl held her walking stick with both hands, slowly walking over to their direction. Her entire body seemed to be radiating some kind of malicious aura that even Issei could feel, causing him to shudder. When the corrupted shipgirl got closer to them, Issei managed to get a clearer look of her face.

One thing that the perverted boy could say was that she was beautiful, but this time, it wasn't necessarily a good thing. He never thought that he could see something so beautiful, yet so wrong. Her deathly pale complexion and glowing yellow eyes didn't seem to help either. The way she moved and walked also looked unnatural, as if the world itself was trying to reject her existence.

"Reality deems her existence to be unacceptable…" Yamato said. "An Abyssal does not follow the rules of nature. In short, she is an aberrant, a creature that should not even exist…" she glanced at Issei. "I'm sorry, Issei. This is the only thing we can do now."

Issei couldn't say anything. He couldn't argue with Yamato about this matter. She knew exactly what was happening, and it's only right for her to decide what to do with the corrupted shipgirl. Still, he felt frustrated.

_"Damn it! W-why…?! Why do I feel so useless?!"_

The corrupted shipgirl was a few meters away from both of them, her glowing yellow eyes staring at them, unblinking. Yamato aimed all her cannons at her, her expression seemed grim.

"I'm sorry, but consider this my mercy. I can only hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me, Kaga." Yamato then launched her attack at the corrupted shipgirl, intending to take her out in one shot. The loud sound produced from the shot was enough to cause the entire warehouse to shake, and Issei had to cover his ears so that his eardrums didn't burst due to the loud noise.

In response, the corrupted shipgirl held out one gloved hand as the shell flew towards her.

**"Wo."**

Before the shell could hit her, it suddenly disintegrated, much to Yamato's shock. The corrupted shipgirl looked at her gloved hand before she lowered it. Her expression remained unchanging when the shell disintegrated when it was about to hit her. The shell was less than one meter away from the corrupted shipgirl when it was disintegrated by some kind of invisible force.

"I-impossible…" Yamato couldn't contain her disbelief upon seeing what had transpired before her. "Wait, this is…" she finally realized something. "I see…" Issei could see her worried look. "We are in direr situation than what I had expected, Admiral. This is not good."

"W-what are you saying, Yamato?" Issei asked in confusion.

Just in time, Yamato made a barrier to deflect the corrupted shipgirl's attacks. "You see… as a Yamato-class battleship, I require adequate resource in order to retain my combat prowess. In this state, due to not having enough resource, it seems that my combat capability is slightly reduced…" She eyed the corrupted shipgirl before them. "And it seems that Kaga's grudge is too strong, it can even disintegrate my shell."

"She can do that?!" Issei asked.

"Yes," Yamato nodded. "Which makes things more difficult for us. All we can do now is to remain in defensive position and wait for an opening. The moment her grudge-fueled barrier weakens, it will be our chance to counterattack…" she smiled at Issei. "Please remain behind me, Admiral. Allow Yamato to protect you…"

As for the corrupted shipgirl, more drones appeared in thin air. They started attacking both Yamato and Issei with their laser beams, and Yamato had no choice but to conjure the beehive-patterned barriers around them in order to protect themselves from their attacks.

As Yamato tried to attack the corrupted shipgirl, Issei remained behind her, silently gritting his teeth in frustration.

_"If only… if only there's something I can do…"_

* * *

**Kantai DxD**

**Kantai Collection and High School DxD Crossover**

**Chapter 03: Aircraft Carrier Kaga**

In a certain old schoolhouse at Kuoh Academy, there were two girls who seemed to be having a teatime, while a certain handsome blond boy was bringing a plate of scones before putting it on the table.

"So, are you saying that Koneko looked rather distracted today?" One of the girls, the one with crimson hair, spoke to the blond boy as she put her teacup on the saucer. She looked at the boy, smiling kindly at him before she continued, "Do you have any idea what's going on, Yuuto?"

The boy, Yuuto Kiba, shook his head. "Honestly, I have no idea, Buchou. I've been wondering if that's one of her quirks as a nekomata," he said. "Then again, I'm not too sure, considering that I'm not an expert in this matter." Then, he seemed to be remembering something. "Ah, I guess she had been sniffing the air a lot today. I suppose that's one of the reasons why she looked rather distracted."

Another girl, a raven-haired one, who was sitting beside the red-haired one set down her teacup as she smiled in amusement. "Well, she is a cat. Cats are sensitive with smells," she chuckled to herself after that. "She's probably smelling the scent of catnip for all we know, fufufu…"

"That's possible, but why don't we just ask her about it when she's here?" The red-haired girl said after sighing.

"Aww, a little speculation won't hurt, Rias…" The black-haired girl pouted. "Then again, I'm worried about Koneko-chan, actually. I never thought she can be that distracted." She folded her arms under her rather opulent breasts. "At least she's not showing any signs of being in heat, though…"

The red-haired one who was called Rias rolled her eyes. "It's still too early for her, Akeno. And let's stop talking about her behind her back, shall we?"

"Alright, if you say so…" The black-haired girl, Akeno, shrugged. "Speaking of which, I notice a rather large stack of books over there," she held out her hand, pointing her dainty finger at the aforementioned large stack of books not too far from them, which was located at the corner of the clubroom. Upon hearing the enquiry, Rias' cheeks turned a little red.

"W-well…" Fiddling with her fingers as she averted her eyes, while at the same time making an impression of a little kid who got caught trying to steal cookies from their jar, Rias spoke, "Y-you see, Okita-san lent me some books about Japanese and Oriental mythologies, and I somehow thought it'll be fine to bring them here…" After that, she added, "This is Occult Research Club, after all. Those books are totally relevant…"

"Oh, okay…" Akeno said. "So, your brother's Knight lent you some of his books, and you brought them here…" she paraphrased what Rias had been telling them.

"Ah, if I'm not wrong, I remember Buchou asking Okita-sensei to borrow those books." Kiba said not-so-helpfully, and Rias shot him a dismayed look, not expecting his betrayal. "Well, I don't think there's anything wrong with that, Buchou."

"Uuu… fine!" Rias said, throwing her hands up. "I begged Okita-san to allow me to borrow his books! I… I just want to study more about youkai!"

"Totally figured that," Akeno said. "You can be quite an otaku when it comes to Japanese culture, Rias," she chuckled mischievously while Rias puffed out her cheeks, pouting.

"D-don't be mean!" Rias protested. She knew that she would be teased by the other girl for the rest of the day.

Luckily for Rias, Kiba was there to save the day. Before Akeno could tease her more, he spoke, "Buchou, you said you want to study about youkai. Do you have anything specific in mind?"

Seemingly grateful that Akeno wouldn't be able to tease her more, Rias looked at the blond boy and smiled at him. "Well, I'm so glad when you ask that, Yuuto. You see, a few days ago, Sona and some members of her peerage encountered a type of youkai," she got up from her seat and went to a nearby cabinet to take out a broken Japanese teacup. "This is what remains of the youkai after they dealt with it."

"A teacup?" Kiba raised one eyebrow. He noticed that the teacup looked old, with faded color and covered in dirt. "Ah, I see… they encountered a youkai that was born from an old teacup."

Exactly," Rias nodded. "The youkai was relatively harmless, but it's been causing a little ruckus around the neighborhood, and it happened that one of the members of the Student Council stumbled upon it, and the rest is history."

"So, a youkai that was born from an inanimate object?" Akeno also got up from her seat, going over to Rias' direction to take a good look on the old broken teacup that the red-haired girl was holding. "A tsukumogami, you mean?"

"Yes, that…" Rias nodded. "From what I have read, a tsukumogami is a type of youkai that used to be an inanimate object that gains sentience after one hundred years or so. It seems that everything can gain sentience, even the mundane objects like teacups or swords."

"Sentient swords, huh?" Kiba mused. "Well, I admit that is quite interesting…"

Akeno giggled. "Ara, does the idea of having swords that are sentient interest you, Kiba-kun? Your special ability isn't enough for you?"

Kiba shrugged. "Well, a man can never have enough swords…" he reasoned.

Rias coughed into her fist, drawing their attentions back to her. "So, that's the general idea about tsukumogami, but… like most people say, there are several exceptions to everything," she smiled. "While most tsukumogamis are born after one hundred years, some objects can become sentient and self-aware even without reaching one hundred years in age."

"So, you're saying that even something new such as this teacup can become a tsukumogami?" Kiba asked as he pointed at the teacup that was on the table. He was specifically pointing at the one that was used by Akeno when he asked that.

"Well, it's nothing like that. If anything, there has to be some sort of requirement for an inanimate object to become tsukumogami without even reaching one hundred years in age." Rias then held out a finger. "It has to be some sort of objects that people admire and venerate. People believe that there are some sort of hidden power behind the seemingly inanimate objects, and in turn, the objects gain sentience. It is quite amazing, if you ask me. By believing hard enough, an inanimate object can even gain a soul…"

"Ah, so you're saying that another requirement for an inanimate object to become a tsukumogami is to be a symbol of worship?" Akeno inquired. Being a shrine maiden, she was well-aware of the concept of all objects around them to have some sort of spirits within them, but she thought that she needed to entertain Rias by feigning ignorance. And she was curious about what Rias had found from her research.

"Yes," Rias seemed delighted with her finding. "Japan is truly a mystical place to live in, and I'm a Devil, which is saying something," her expression seemed giddy as she said that, and both Kiba and Akeno smiled in amusement.

"So, by following that logic, if I believe my sword is sentient hard enough, it can gain sentience for real?" Kiba asked.

"Umm… it's not really that easy, Yuuto…" Rias said.

"Well, it won't hurt to try, will it?"

Rias and Akeno glanced at each other, as if wondering whether the boy was serious or not.

* * *

At another place, which was at the abandoned warehouse, there was a battle between two tsukumogamis, one of them being the personification of battleship Yamato, and the other being the corrupted personification of aircraft carrier Kaga. Yamato tried to find the weak points in the corrupted Kaga's defense, but due to her being weakened, her attacks were disintegrated by Kaga's grudge-fueled barriers before they could reach her.

"This isn't working…" Yamato said as another of her attacks failed to hit the target. "It seems that I have no choice. I have to deal with her at close range." She dismissed her large cannons and held her parasol in one hand. "Stay back, Admiral! Let Yamato do this!"

Before Issei could voice out his response, Yamato deflected a shot from the corrupted shipgirl's drones with her parasol before she used her smaller cannons to take them out. Despite being smaller and weaker than her 46 cm Triple Gun Mount, they were able to destroy the drones without much effort. Still, even by destroying the drones, she was still unable to get herself closer to the corrupted shipgirl due to the barrier and the continuous assault from the other drones.

"Still doesn't work…" Yamato grunted. Her attacks were useless against the corrupted shipgirl's barriers, and she was unable to go closer to her, which made her more desperate. Gritting her teeth, she spoke, "Aircraft carrier Kaga, if you know what is good for you, I command you to stand down and accept your fate gracefully." She placed her hand on her gorget that bore the image of chrysanthemum, the emblem of Japanese Imperial family. "Have you forgotten to whom you served? Have you forgotten your duty as a proud vessel who fought for Imperial Navy? Have you forgotten who you truly are?!"

Upon hearing the questions from Yamato, the drones stopped attacking, and the corrupted shipgirl looked at Yamato with her glowing yellow eyes, unblinking. Then, she opened her mouth.

**"There is nothing to be proud of in my humiliating defeat…"**

Both Yamato and Issei were surprised to hear the corrupted shipgirl's voice. And Yamato seemed to be caught off-guard, not expecting the shipgirl to say anything in response.

**"I served the Emperor and the Imperial Japanese Navy, and yet, what I got was a cold, dark abyss, deep within the sea. There is nothing to be proud of."**

"B-but…" Yamato's expression turned frantic. "Y-you're Kaga! You're supposed to be the pride of the nation!"

**"Like I said, there is no pride in my defeat. You, who bore the emblem has no right to say that to me. You, the one who is constantly showered by admiration even after being sunken into the cold, uncaring sea, has no right to say that to me. Now, go away."**

Before Yamato could say anything to retort to her, the corrupted shipgirl held out the walking stick, and it shifted into another shape; a pitch-black bow that seemed to be made of some kind of unknown material. She drew the string of the bow back, and an arrow, which was also black in color, appeared out of thin air.

**"Or else, die."**

She released the arrow, which was aimed at Yamato. Using her parasol, Yamato deflected the arrow, but the force generated when the arrow collided against her parasol pushed her back, and Yamato scowled when she realized that her parasol was damaged by the arrow.

"Y-Yamato, are you alright?" Issei asked, going to Yamato's side.

"I'm fine, Admiral. But you should stay back," Yamato said. "She is dangerous."

Yamato conjured another layer of barrier as the corrupted shipgirl's drones continued their assault.

"It seems that I have no choice…" Yamato sighed. "Issei, you better get yourself out of this place. The only way for me to take her down is to go all out, and it may probably end with me destroying myself along with her," Issei was appalled by how calm Yamato was when she said that. "And this warehouse may end up being destroyed as well, so… you better escape with your life…" she smiled at Issei.

"B-but… if you do that, I-" Issei was stopped when Yamato placed her palm on Issei's mouth.

"Issei Hyoudou, I'm so glad to know you…" Yamato said, smiling warmly, even as she tried to retain her barriers to prevent themselves from being hit by the corrupted shipgirl's drones. "Yamato will always remember you. Now, go…" she pointed at the exit. "Let's meet again, in another life, perhaps…" she gave him a salute and a smile as Issei absentmindedly walked towards the exit after being pushed by Yamato.

"Yamato…"

When Issei finally walked out of the warehouse, Yamato turned back to face the corrupted Kaga.

**"Why… are you crying?"**

The corrupted shipgirl momentarily stopped her assault as she saw tears rolling down Yamato's cheeks. She tilted her head, as if curious about what she had seen before her.

"It doesn't matter anymore…" Yamato said, wiping her tears. "Now, I can go all out without restriction." Her cannons and armament appeared on her back, and all the cannons were pointed at the corrupted shipgirl. "I shall take you with me, Kaga."

* * *

With slow pace, Issei walked away from the warehouse. He tried to prevent himself from looking back, but each time he tried to do that, he failed.

"Damn it… I…"

He was told by Yamato to leave the place so that she could stop the corrupted shipgirl from going on a rampage. But in order to do that, she had to do something that might end up killing herself as well. He wanted to protest, but Yamato's earnest expression prevented him from doing so.

"Why am I feeling so useless?!" Issei screamed in frustration as he brought his hands to the sides of his head. He hated it when there was nothing else he could do. He fell on his knees, having no strength to continue.

_**"There is nothing to be proud of in my humiliating defeat…"**_

He recalled what the corrupted shipgirl had said. From what he had read from the books regarding the WWII-era ships, the aircraft carrier Kaga was sunken in the Battle of Midway, which was considered a humiliating defeat for the Japanese. Perhaps that was the reason behind her corruption.

"There… there has to be something that I can do…" Issei said as he got up on his feet. Without even thinking, he spun on his heel and ran back towards the warehouse and went through the entrance, where he found that Yamato was attacking the corrupted shipgirl with bombardment.

When Issei looked at the corrupted shipgirl, he saw her standing motionlessly while her barriers continued to disintegrate the incoming projectiles from Yamato.

Then, he saw something else. He saw a glimpse of a girl, alone and broken deep under the sea. There was no light in her eyes as she remained there, lying on the seabed.

_**It's cold.**_

Both Yamato and the corrupted shipgirl had yet to realize that Issei was there, and Issei continued to look at both shipgirls attacking each other.

_**I'm afraid…**_

Issei could hear whispery voices inside his head, which reminded him the time before Yamato saved him from being killed by Yuuma Amano.

_**Someone… anyone… please hear me…**_

Then, he looked at the corrupted shipgirl, whose face remained emotionless, but every now and then, he saw the glimpse of a broken girl, who was alone deep within the cold, uncaring sea.

_**I'm… lonely…**_

After a while, he finally realized what was happening. Despite the emotionless look that the corrupted shipgirl displayed, deep down, she was a broken, lonely girl who was desperate to have someone hearing her out. Now that he knew about this, there's no way he could allow them to destroy each other.

"I-Issei?!" Yamato realized that Issei was still there. "Didn't I tell you to get awa- eek!" Due to Issei's presence, she was distracted, allowing her opponent to land a hit on her. She was hit on the right side of her torso.

"Yamato! Are you alright?!" Issei rushed to her side. He believed that it was his fault that Yamato got shot, because his presence somehow distracted her from seeing her enemy's attacks.

"I'm fine," Yamato said. The shot tore a little bit of the fabric of her dress, revealing the skin underneath. Fortunately, there was only a bruise mark on it instead of something worse. "But why are you here? Didn't I tell you to go away?"

"I know what to do now…" Issei said as he looked at the corrupted shipgirl. "I can hear her heart…" clenching his fists, he stood upright. Noticing the look from Issei, the corrupted shipgirl momentarily stopped her assault. "Now, if I tell you to believe in me, will you do that?"

"Issei…"

"I know this is stupidly dangerous, but I have to do this…" Issei said as he looked over his shoulder, and Yamato could see his face filled with determination. "All you have to do is believe in me and help me. Can you do that?"

Yamato studied Issei's face before she nodded. "Of course. After all, you are my Admiral."

When Issei was about to say more, the corrupted shipgirl continued her assault, and with timely intervention from Yamato, he was protected by her barrier.

Covering his face with his arm, he asked Yamato, "What will happen to this barrier if I run?"

"It'll flicker out three seconds after you move," Yamato answered.

"And can I go through that barrier of hers so I can get closer to her?" Issei asked another question. The drones continued their assault, and the barriers protected Issei and Yamato from the attacks.

"You can forcefully go through it. After all, the barriers only work against projectiles. But if you forcefully punch it, it'll hurt you," Yamato explained. "Don't tell me you're going to break through the barrier?"

"Uh, yes?" Issei said. "So… uh, will you do that?"

So, their strategy seemed to be 'Issei rushes to the enemy while Yamato provides protection, and then Issei forcefully punches through her barrier to get to her'.

Sighing, Yamato said, "Alright. It is your plan, and Yamato will go with it. Just… don't do anything that may cause, umm… lasting harm, okay?"

"Okay," Issei nodded. He looked at the corrupted shipgirl. "Alright, when I run, you give me barrier. And I'm going to break through her barrier to get to her."

"Affirmative," Yamato said. Issei gave her a signal before he started sprinting towards the corrupted shipgirl. Just like Yamato said, the moment he moved, the barrier that protected him from the drones dissipated, and Yamato had to conjure more barriers around him as he moved.

"Graah!" Issei yelled as he ran over towards the corrupted shipgirl, with Yamato continuously conjuring more barriers around him to protect him. Then, he stopped and stood three meters away from the corrupted shipgirl, with her grudge-fueled barrier between them. Without thinking, he threw a punch at the barrier.

And it was a bad move.

The moment his fist touched the barrier, he could feel his skin burning upon contact. He let out a pained cry when his fist was burned by the barrier.

"Damn it!" Issei looked at the corrupted shipgirl before him. He needed to get closer to her so that he could do whatever he had in his mind, but the barrier seemed to be standing in his way. "Don't get in my way, you stupid wall!" He punched again, and predictably, it still hurt.

"Issei!" Yamato shouted at him, seemingly worried.

"C'mon now! I'm not going to fail this! Not now!" Issei yelled as he pulled back his fist so that he could launch another punch. Despite having his fist burned, it didn't stop him from trying again.

His fist blackened due to being repeatedly slammed against the barrier, but he didn't stop despite the pain.

He needed to break through this barrier.

More than anything, he needed to get through this barrier, because it was the only thing that stopped him from reaching the shipgirl before him.

If only he had the power to break through the barrier.

[…ra…on …oos…er!]

In a flash, he could feel his vision turning green as he slammed his fist against the barrier. Vividly, he could hear a mechanical voice even though he couldn't tell what the voice was saying, but after hearing that, he could feel power coursing through his body. And the moment his fist slammed against the barrier, it finally broke.

He didn't know whether his mind was playing tricks on him or not, but he thought that there was something strange about his hand. But he didn't pay any attention to it as he proceeded to get closer to the corrupted shipgirl. She didn't expect him to break through her barrier, and she was unable to do anything as he got closer to her. He yelled as he rushed towards her.

And pulled her into a hug.

The corrupted shipgirl's eyes widened in surprise when Issei wrapped his arms around her. She could feel his palm stroking on her back. Even if she tried to struggle, squirming out of his embrace, she was unable to do so.

Because it felt warm.

"I heard your voice…" Issei said to her. "I can tell that you're lonely. I don't want to claim that I understand how it feels, but… I'm telling you this," he brought his hand to her head before he removed the giant hat that she was wearing and tossed it away. "From now on, you're not going to be lonely anymore. I promise to you, Kaga…" he stroked her white hair tenderly. "No matter what happened to you before, it won't matter anymore…"

His voice was gentle and kind, and it sounded pleasant. Her grip on her walking stick loosened before she dropped it to the floor. Her drones that were floating also dissipated into nothingness.

"No matter what, I'm going to be with you…" Issei said, smiling. "You are not lonely, not anymore…"

For a while, there was no response from her. After a while, Issei could feel her body shaking as she brought her hands up to his back, clutching on his shirt.

**"Aaa... *sniffle* aaa..."**

Then, she sobbed.

**"I-I'm... *sob* s-scared..."**

For the first time, Issei was able to see the change in her expression, and he noted how beautiful she looked as she cried. The mask of stoicism that she wore earlier had crumbled into dust, leaving behind the lonely, vulnerable girl who finally managed to shed her tears after spending so many years down the sea, where no one could see her cry.

"There, there..." Issei tried his best to comfort the crying girl. "It's time to say goodbye to the cold, uncaring sea. From now on, you'll be with us..." he smiled kindly at her, and the girl continued crying her heart out, all the tears that were unshed flowed unbidden down her cheeks. In the boy's embrace, she felt like she had been saved, and she knew that all those years of loneliness had finally come to an end.

Issei also noticed that the whiteness of her skin was slowly replaced by the normal skin color. Her white hair also slowly turned black, or dark brown. He couldn't tell due to the lighting. The white, tight suit she was wearing also slowly disintegrated, leaving only her naked flesh. Being a pervert he was, he couldn't help but show a lecherous grin as he noted that her breasts were quite big. He didn't notice this earlier, considering the circumstances. Still, he had to restrain himself for her sake.

As she continued crying, Issei realized that her body was glowing. Then, her body started dissipating before she disappeared, leaving behind the ship fragment.

"W-what's happening to her?" Issei was confused when she somehow disappeared. "Where did she go?"

"You managed to purify her negative emotions and grudges, Admiral…" Yamato said as she approached Issei. "Right now, she has reverted back into her shard form, but now that she's been purified, we can finally summon her without trouble…" she smiled as stood beside him.

"I-is that so?" Issei said before he looked at the ship fragment of Kaga. He walked over to its direction and picked it up. He smiled at it as he held it with both hands. "You're not going to be alone again, Kaga. Trust me, you're never going to be alone again…"

* * *

And so, both Issei and Yamato went back home. After cleaning themselves up, both of them decided to do the ritual again. This time, the ritual would be done in Issei's room. Yamato summoned her shrine maiden fairies and the ritual began.

"So, are you sure there won't be any trouble?" Issei asked Yamato as they watched the fairies performing kagura dance around the ship fragment of Kaga.

"Yes. There is no corruption to speak of, so there will be no more corrupted shipgirl," Yamato said with a smile.

"Alright, if you say so…" Issei said. Somehow, he felt nervous. He had been wondering about what kind of Kanmusu Kaga was like. He continued watching the ritual as the ship fragment began to glow, releasing some kind of warm light. Slowly, a figure started to form before them, and when the glow finally faded out, Issei managed to get a clear view on the figure.

Standing before them was a girl with average height, clad in white gi and blue short hakama. She was also wearing a black muneate over her chest. Her thigh-high stockings seemed to be black in color as well. Now that they were in a room with proper lighting, Issei was able to see that her hair was really dark brown in color, and was done in a side ponytail. She was also holding an archery bow.

Issei also noted that the girl was quite stoic, unlike Yamato. But then, when she looked at Issei, her expression softened a bit before her lips curled up into a small smile.

"I am aircraft carrier Kaga…" the girl spoke. Her voice sounded calm and composed. "From now on, I shall be serving you, Admiral…"

Issei grinned as he held out his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Kaga-chan! I'm Issei Hyoudou! Just call me Issei, okay?"

Kaga looked at the offered hand before she nodded. Then she shook the hand and spoke to Issei, "It is nice to meet you as well, Admiral. And…" her cheeks seemed to be a little red. "…thank you, for everything."

"I-it's okay! J-just doing my job and stuff!"

As Issei and Kaga were shaking hands, Yamato watched them, and she smiled.

_"A shipgirl accumulated negative emotions due to her experience during the war. The Battle of Midway was a humiliating experience for someone like Kaga, and that is why the accumulated negative emotions caused her to turn into an Abyssal."_

Yamato sighed.

_"It could easily be me, because I was also sunken during a mission. I was lucky that I had Issei and his grandfather. And my reputation also prevented me from turning into an Abyssal. Kaga never had such luxury. But now, she is back to normal, thanks to Issei…"_

Yamato looked at Issei, who was getting flustered by Kaga's close proximity, and she giggled.

_"It's probably too early to assume this, but Issei Hyoudou, you might as well be our salvation…"_

**TO BE CONTINUED**

* * *

**Author's Note:** Hello, this is me, Prince Arjuna. So, this is Chapter 3 of Kantai DxD, Aircraft Carrier Kaga. For your information, Kaga is one of my favorite shipgirls in Kancolle. I'm not sure why, but maybe it's because I like her cool, calm attitude while there's possible to be a goofy side of hers behind that layer of cold stoicism. So, I hope you'll like this chapter and I hope you don't mind all the stupid bullshits I pulled in this chapter, okay? So, let's focus back on the DxD side of the story, because this is a Crossover between Kantai Collection and High School DxD for the next chapter.

Also, thanks to **lojzek91** for beta-reading this chapter. It's so good working alongside you. So, stay tuned for the next chapter, **Chapter 04: Selfish Dream**. Until then, farewell.

**Prince Arjuna (2015)**


	4. Selfish Dream

"My name is Kaga Yamamoto," the side ponytailed girl clad in Kuoh Academy uniform introduced herself to the class. Her tone was calm and her expression was indiscernible. The first thing most students in the class thought upon seeing the girl was that she somehow carried the aura of 'a cool lady'. "I am pleased to make you acquaintances," she said as she dipped into a slight bow.

"Whoa, she's pretty!"

"She looks so cool!"

"Side ponytail, huh? Well, she definitely pulls it off, that's for certain."

"First, Yamato-chan, and now, her? I think I'm living in an anime!"

"Dude, I think I saw her coming to school together early this morning with Hyoudou. That would mean…"

All eyes were directed at Issei, who sheepishly looked away upon receiving those looks from his classmates. He believed that he also somehow received some glares from the boys in the class. And it was noteworthy to mention that his fellow perverts, Matsuda and Motohama, were shooting daggers at him. If looks could kill, he might have been riddled with countless daggers all over his body.

"Issei…" Motohama's glare intensified. "First, Yamato-chan, and now…"

"W-well…" Issei glanced around nervously.

And to make the situation much worse, Kaga spoke further, "And I shall mention that I am currently living in Hyoudou residence. Due to some complicated matters, I am living together with Issei Hyoudou." There was a faint shade of red on Kaga's cheeks as she continued, "And… I would say that I am not displeased with this current arrangement…"

Issei gulped, noticing that he was no longer showered in figurative daggers from the glares that he received from the other boys, but instead, he felt like he might have been showered in figurative swords, spears, arrows or any sharp weapons larger than daggers. Two desks away from him, Yamato was giving Issei a concerned look.

Two days ago, upon her materialization, there was a shift of reality to accommodate Kaga's existence. But unlike Yamato, who had been living together with Issei as a ship's shard for ten years, the shift of reality wasn't as precise as Yamato's. As a result, the only thing Kaga got from the shift of reality was her civilian identity, Kaga Yamamoto. That was why she had to be introduced to Issei's parents first, because the shift of reality didn't make her Issei's cousin, unlike Yamato.

Issei told his parents that Kaga's parents were going overseas due to their works, leaving their daughter alone. He managed to convince his parents to let Kaga to live with them for the time being. Much to his relief, both of them agreed to let her stay with them.

And Kaga also needed to attend school, so unlike Yamato, she took the entrance test so that she could attend Kuoh Academy. Amazingly, she managed to pass the test with flying colors. All she needed in order to pass the test was to study for only one night. When Issei asked her about how she managed to pass the test, which, from his experience, was super hard and he barely passed the test when he took it, Kaga told him that it was one of the perks of being a non-human creature that was born from the spirit of a sunken WWII-era warship. For Issei, that was quite a nonsensical answer, but that's the only answer he got from her, so he believed that had to be the best answer she could provide to him.

She also told him that it was due to her pride of 1st CarDiv, whatever that actually meant.

One thing that Issei realized after having both Yamato and Kaga in the household was that they were a couple of big eaters. Saying that they ate a lot was an understatement of the century. Luckily, both of his parents didn't seem to mind that both girls had exceptionally large appetite, saying that girls nowadays still needed some growing up to do. Issei wanted to say something about that line of thought, considering that both girls were 'heavily-stacked', for the lack of better words, but he figured out that it's better for him to keep whatever he wanted to say about such line of thought to himself.

After all, there's no use complaining about why his parents didn't say anything about both girls' abnormal appetite, now that he had two girls living together with him, something that he could only dream before. It helped that each of those girls had a pair of large Oppai.

He also had discussed with both Yamato and Kaga about the next thing to do. Now that he had the embodiments of the spirits of battleship Yamato and aircraft carrier Kaga, the next thing to do would be to provide essential resources for both of them. While both Yamato and Kaga were humanoid in appearance, they were first and foremost the embodiments of Japanese warships and also the youkai that were born from the wills of the ships.

Resources such as steel and fuel were essential for the Kanmusu. It's not like they mandatorily needed them, but by consuming them, they would grow much stronger, which would make it easier for him to achieve his dream; collecting shipgirls to make his own harem.

Back at the classroom, Issei was grinning lecherously while sitting at his desk, imagining himself being surrounded by his harem that consisted of the shipgirls. Finally, a real-life harem! The one thing that he previously thought as mere dream could finally come true!

Like Yamato, Kaga also agreed to help him to achieve his dream of making a harem of Kanmusu. And she was also willing to use her powers to search for more ship fragments in order to awaken more shipgirls. As a personification of an aircraft carrier, she could use her reconnaissance planes (which were shaped like toy planes, by the way) to track down the fragments. She had assumed that within one week, the planes would be able to detect at least seven fragments across the country, and the planes would retrieve the fragments to their place so that the summoning ritual could be made.

The usage of her planes also somehow increased Kaga's appetite, and the night after Kaga launched her planes, she almost singlehandedly demolished the dinner. Due to some reasons, Issei's mother didn't suspect even a thing, thinking that it might be just a phase.

So, back at the classroom, Kaga had finished her introduction, her expression seemed calm and deadpan as ever. The majority of the boys were still casting evil glares at Issei when the teacher told Kaga, "So, Yamamoto-san, you can take any empty seat you like."

Blinking, Kaga scanned the whole class, looking at her classmates before she raised her hand and pointed her finger at the empty desk which somehow was conveniently beside Issei's. "I'd like to sit there," Kaga said. "I'd like to sit beside Issei-kun."

Some of her classmates were murmuring.

"Isn't that Saitama-kun's seat?"

"I heard he crashed into a tree yesterday. He got a full-body cast at the hospital."

"Poor guy. Well, at least we won't be worrying about his desk being empty. You do know what they say about empty desks, right?"

"Oh, is this one of your horror stories again?"

"Hey, this one is real! Don't you know that one time, the toilet-"

Issei sighed, ignoring the conversation between his classmates that somehow had mutated into something about the school's bathrooms. He seemed to be thinking about something when Kaga went to the empty desk beside his before she took her seat.

Meanwhile, Yamato was giving Issei a worried look.

"Issei…"

* * *

**Kantai DxD**

**Kantai Collection and High School DxD Crossover**

**Chapter 04: Selfish Dream**

Koneko Toujou was feeling a little nervous since the morning. When she arrived at school at the morning, she detected a scent which reminded her of Yamato, the mysterious girl who showed up at school a few days ago. She could tell that the girl was anything but a human.

What made her nervous was that while the scent seemed familiar, it wasn't the same as the one that came from Yamato. This time, this scent was a little stronger, and it reminded her of seawater.

After that, she saw her, a different girl who walked alongside Issei Hyoudou. Yamato also walked beside him. This new girl was shorter than Yamato, and she wore her dark brown hair in side ponytail. Seeing her expression reminded Koneko of herself; stoic and composed.

"Whoa, who's that beauty?!"

"I never saw her before. Dang, she's pretty."

"I-is Hyoudou walking with her? And with Yamato-chan too?!"

"Damn you Hyoudou!"

"That bastard's double-wielding! Dammit, God is dead! Dead, I tell ya!"

Koneko still remembered the reactions of other students who saw this new girl, who apparently was a new student at Kuoh Academy, and she decided to momentarily forget about those for the time being. Judging from the unique scent that she detected from her, Koneko could tell that she might not be a human, just like Yamato. She remembered the time when she was eavesdropping both Issei and Yamato, recalling some details regarding Yamato's true nature and some other things.

She still didn't understand most of the things she heard, but she knew that something was going on. Normally, she would just let it be, considering that supernatural existence was a natural occurrence around the area, particularly at Kuoh Academy. She was of supernatural existence herself, so she shouldn't be surprised if she discovered something inhuman among the crowd.

And yet there was something that had been bothering her. It was something that she was unable to explain with words.

Because of that, she went to tell the president of the Occult Research Club, Rias Gremory regarding this matter.

"So, that explains why you seemed restless these last few days…" Rias Gremory said, looking at Koneko who was sitting on the sofa opposite the one she was sitting on. The white-haired, petite girl was drinking a cup of tea. She had told her about her discovery.

A busty, black-haired girl, Akeno Himejima, the vice-president of the club, was pouring tea into cups when she said, "My, so it's not because of Koneko-chan being in heat, after all…" The black-haired beauty smiled teasingly at the younger girl.

"Hbuu!" And the poor girl ended up spitting the tea she was drinking, and being the one who was in front of her when she did the rather spectacular spit-take, Rias found herself dripping with tea.

Letting out an annoyed sigh, she glanced at Akeno. "What did I tell you about saying things like that, Akeno?" She didn't seem to be bothered in her current state of wetness as she threw the black-haired girl a disapproving look. Koneko, who was coughing after doing a spit-take seemed to have the decency to be embarrassed after splashing the tea she was drinking right on to Rias' face.

The only boy in the clubhouse, Yuuto Kiba went to Rias' side before he handed her a fresh, clean towel so that she could wipe herself dry with it.

"Ah, thank you, Yuuto."

"You're welcome, Buchou."

While Rias was using the towel to wipe herself dry, Koneko set down her teacup.

"So… you somehow encountered two unknown supernatural entities showing up at school these last few days?" Rias began.

"Not encountered…" Koneko said before she took a rice cracker on the place that was on the table. "Detected." After taking a bite, she continued, "I detected them by chance, and they smelled strange."

Rias understood what Koneko was trying to tell her. Due to her 'special circumstances', Koneko was able to discern the nature of supernatural beings by their scents. And this time, she somehow detected something that was unknown to her.

"So…" Akeno said as she read the documents in her hands. "Yamato Hyoudou and Kaga Yamamoto…" She was reading the information of these two new students. "Yamato Hyoudou came to this school a few days ago, and Kaga Yamamoto came two days later, which is today." She eyed the petite girl. "Are you saying that these two are some kind of entities that are unknown to us?"

Koneko nodded. "Yes." She never smelled such scents before, not from the supernatural entities that she already knew beforehand. "And I eavesdropped their conversation a few days ago. I was unable to learn what they were talking about, but I did hear Yamato Hyoudou's words about her being a non-human," after a pause, she added, "And I also saw her summoning some kind of small creatures."

"Hmm…" Rias brought her hand to her chin, mulling over the new information she received from the younger girl. "Koneko, will you continue observing these two? Use your familiar if necessary. Also, since Issei Hyoudou is also with him, will you observe him too?"

Rias clasped her hands together as she looked at Koneko.

"If we are right, then he may have it in him…" The red-haired girl said. "The Sacred Gear…"

Koneko nodded.

"Understood."

* * *

"Admiral, is something bothering you?" Yamato asked Issei as she walked alongside the boy on their way home. Kaga was also with them. After school, they decided to go straight home to check the progress of the reconnaissance planes to see if they managed to find the signals of the ship fragments.

"Huh?" Issei blinked before he looked at the ponytailed girl beside him. "Oh, uh… n-no, it's nothing," Issei said.

Yamato could tell that Issei was definitely troubled.

"Admiral…" Kaga spoke from his side. "You look troubled."

"I'm fine," Issei insisted.

Yamato and Kaga looked at each other. Both shipgirls were befuddled by Issei's change of behavior. When they thought about it, he started getting fidgety some times after Kaga's materialization.

"Well, if you say so…" Yamato said, smiling warmly at Issei. That beautiful smile of hers was definitely a sight to behold for Issei.

So, as they walked the street, there was a girl walking opposite their direction. She seemed to be holding a paper bag which contained a lot of meat buns, and the girl was eating one while walking towards their direction.

And Kaga almost bumped into her.

"Ah, sorry!" The girl apologized after swallowing the chunk of meat bun she had bitten.

"It's okay…" Kaga said. After bowing, the girl walked away. When Kaga was about to continue walking, she saw something on the ground.

It was a cellphone, which was pink in color. She bent down and picked it up. She figured out that this cellphone might belong to the girl she almost bumped into earlier. Without wasting any second, she turned on her heel and walked over to the girl's direction.

"Wait," Kaga called out for that girl, and the girl stopped. "You dropped this."

She held out the cellphone to the girl. When she stood before her, she managed to take a good look at her. They were about the same height, from what she could tell. She was attired in light pink dress, and she was also wearing a pair of white sandals. The girl's hair was long, and like hers, the girl's hair was also dark brown in color, almost black.

"Ah…" The girl looked at the pink cellphone that Kaga showed her before she smiled, taking the cellphone from the other girl. "Thank you. Sorry for the trouble."

"It's okay…" Kaga said. The girl took the phone from her before Kaga realized that there was an anchor-shaped phone strap attached on the cellphone.

Then Kaga looked at the girl. She was wearing a black choker with a miniature anchor on it.

"Hmm… do I know you?" The girl suddenly asked.

"Huh?" Kaga blinked a few times.

"Well, probably it's just me…" The girl mused. "Oh well, thanks for giving this back. My dad was the one who bought this, you know?" The girl giggled.

"Oh, that sounds… nice," Kaga said. Then she realized that both Yamato and Issei were waiting for her. "Ah, I should go now. Have a good day." And so, she left the girl and joined both Yamato and Issei.

The girl remained there, staring at the cellphone that was returned to her after she dropped it. Absentmindedly, she took out another meat bun from the paper bag that she held before she took a bite.

"It's been a long time," she spoke. "Finally, after Midway, we meet again, Kaga…"

The girl turned around and walked down the street, presumably towards the direction of her house.

* * *

Issei had been lying to both Yamato and Kaga. He was indeed very troubled about something. It was after the encounter with the corrupted form of Kaga at the warehouse some days ago.

From what he had learned, an Abyssal is born due to accumulated grudges and hatred within a ship after being sunken. Due to the outcome of the war, Issei figured out that most, if not all warships might end up materializing themselves as Abyssals due to them being sunken during the war. Kaga got it worse due to her being sunken in one of the most humiliating defeats for Imperial Japanese Navy, the Battle of Midway. Yamato managed to get off easy due to her fame and reputation as national icon, as well as due to the fact that she had been living with Issei for ten years in her fragment form.

Yamato had explained that once an Abyssal is born, she becomes the manifestation of the shipgirl's grudges. It could be said that he was lucky that he managed to purify Kaga's corrupted form by calming her down, but there was no guarantee that it could work to other corrupted shipgirls.

Issei recalled the time when he saw the visions of Kaga, alone and broken, at the bottom of the sea. He could tell that she was scared, being left alone in the cold sea, right after being sunken during the most humiliating defeat in the history of naval warfare. If that was what Kaga experienced when she was sunken, what about the other ships? Were they scared too?

He had read about the Battle of Midway before. Four aircraft carriers and one heavy cruiser were sunk. Including Kaga, other warships such as Akagi, Hiryuu, Soryuu and Mikuma were lost during the battle. If Kaga suffered due to her defeat, did the same happen to them too? Did they spend all these years accumulating grudges in their watery graves deep within the Pacific Ocean, far from the motherland where they were born?

Issei still could remember what he had heard at that time, when Kaga said how scared she was at that time. He seemed to have trouble getting rid of those images of hers, lying motionlessly on the seabed, cold and alone. Did the others also suffer the same thing too?

He had been wondering about such thing for quite a while, and it hurt his head. So, he figured out that he might need some fresh air outside.

"I'm going out now," Issei said after putting on his jacket to protect himself from the night air.

"Shall I accompany you, Admiral?" Kaga asked.

Issei smiled and shook his head. "Nah, no worries, Kaga-chan. I'm going out to get some fresh air, that's all."

"Very well…" Kaga nodded. "Please be safe."

So, Issei went out of the house, putting his hands into the pockets of his jacket as he walked down the street. As he walked, he started thinking about his dream about making a harem of shipgirls.

_"Is this alright?"_

After his encounter with the corrupted Kaga, he began to rethink about his dream. All the shipgirls might have suffered in one way or another thanks to the war, and here he thought that it would be okay to collect them all like collectible trading cards. While the shipgirls aren't humans, they are still people with feelings and emotions.

_"It's definitely awesome to have a harem, but… is it alright to go around, collecting them like some collectible items?"_

He had realized how selfish his dream was after his encounter with Kaga. He wanted to collect shipgirls who happened to be the personifications of the warships that were sunken during the wars many years ago.

_"Kaga-chan was so scared… she even became a monster because of it. Is it alright if I seek out the others, if they're as scared as Kaga-chan when they were sunken?"_

Issei stopped walking when he arrived at the park. It was already late at night, so there was no one around him. He brought his hand to his chest, touching the talisman that was hanging on his neck.

_"Grandpa… what should I do? I don't know what to do, I…"_

Slowly, Issei walked over to a jungle gym in the middle of the park and leaned himself against it. He shuddered slightly as the back of his neck touched the cold surface of the metal bar of the jungle gym.

Then, he sighed.

_"Urgh… what is wrong with me? I never felt this confused before…"_

Issei wanted to scream in frustration over the things that had been bothering him for the last few days.

Then, a voice spoke to him.

"Well, you definitely look troubled."

"Huh?"

He looked up, and saw someone sitting on top of the jungle gym. It was a girl, clad in light pink dress. Because it was nighttime, he couldn't tell whether her long, silky hair was black or dark brown, but there was one thing he was certain; she was definitely pretty. In one hand, she was holding a paper bag which seemed to contain some croissants, and the way she was sitting on the jungle gym somehow exposed her panties.

"W-white…" Issei gasped out in amazement. He had seen pantyshots before, but it was his first time seeing one so close. It was definitely a sight to be admired for a pervert like him.

"Hmm?" The girl noticed that Issei saw her undergarment, and she immediately closed her legs in order to cover her panties. "Pervert," she blushed a little, but somehow, she was smiling. "Alright, I'm going to jump down. Cushion my fall, 'kay?"

"Wha-"

"Geronimo!"

Whap!

The girl jumped onto him, and without thinking, Issei used his body in order to cushion her fall. Her body made full contact with his, and he was able to feel her breasts being pressed against his torso.

_"Whoa… the real Oppai! W-wait, s-she's not wearing bra!"_

"Oh," lying on top of Issei, the girl looked down to see her impromptu cushion before she smiled. "Thanks. You're a real help. As a reward, have a croissant." She handed Issei a croissant.

Taking the crescent-shaped pastry from the strange girl, Issei stared at her as the girl got up from him before she continued eating her croissants. He also got up and absentmindedly took a bite on the croissant that was given by the girl.

"Umm… uh…" Issei tried to say something to the girl, but was unable to find any right words.

Noticing the boy's discomfort, the girl finished her croissants quickly (Issei had no idea how she managed to demolish all those croissants in mere seconds) before she spoke, "What brings you to the park in the middle of a night?"

"W-well…" Issei said. "I guess I'm out to take some fresh air."

"Ah, I see…" she mused. "But, I can see that you're definitely troubled." She folded her arms under her breasts as she looked at the boy. "Care to share about the things that have been troubling you with a stranger who ate croissants in the middle of the night?"

Issei looked at the strange girl. She smiled at him kindly.

"Uh, w-well… you see, I actually have this dream, I mean, an ambition of sorts…" Issei began. "Then, something happened, and I began to see that my dream is, well…" Issei scratched the back of his head. "Kinda selfish."

"Selfish?" The girl raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, selfish. I think my dream kinda involves taking advantage of people who are suffering…" Issei said as he looked down. "If anything, I want to help them to stop their suffering, but… it feels like I'm taking advantage of them."

Stroking her chin, the girl spoke, "So, you want to achieve your dream, but you don't want to hurt those people while trying to achieve your dream," she tilted her head cutely. "What's your dream?"

Grinning, Issei made a dramatic pose. "I'm gonna be the Harem King!" Then he nervously laughed as he lowered his hands. "Uh… yeah."

The girl blinked, a few times, in fact.

"Well… that's definitely quite a big dream, I'd say," she said. "And those people are girls who you want to put into your harem, but you think that putting them into your harem without considering their feelings is kinda selfish of you. Is that right?"

"Y-yeah, it kinda feels that way…" Issei nodded sheepishly. "T-these people… they suffered a lot. And if I treat them like some kind of collectible trading cards, they're gonna hurt more." He brought his hands to his head. "I saw her… I saw her there, all alone. I… I don't wanna hurt them…"

"I see…" The girl mused. "Well, I can understand what you mean…" She brought her hands up to take Issei's, holding them. Issei could feel how soft those hands were. "Still, there has to be some way for you to realize your dream without hurting anyone." She smiled warmly at the boy. "In fact, I think I know how to do that."

"Y-you do?" Issei said. "W-what is it?"

"You told me that those people suffered a lot, so… why don't you try to ease their burden?" The girl suggested. "Help them. Find a way to make sure that they will suffer no more. Relieve them of their own suffering." Then, she winked. "Just change the priority. Make 'helping them' the highest on your list of priorities, and 'make a harem' the second highest."

"Highest priority?" Issei blinked.

The girl's expression became serious. "Do you want to help them? Do you want to save them from their suffering? Will you pull them out of the abyss of despair?"

Issei was stunned upon hearing those questions. But he composed himself and answered those questions. "Yes…" he nodded. "I don't want them to suffer."

Her expression softened. "There you go. Just make it your highest priority."

"B-but… what about my dream?" Issei asked.

"Believe me, it'll come naturally…" The girl shrugged.

"Uh…" Issei didn't understand what she meant. "Well, if you say so…" Since the girl had reassured him that in one way or another, that dream would eventually be realized, there would be no need for him to worry anymore. "A-and… thanks."

"You're welcome." The girl responded.

"So, umm… I'm Issei. Issei Hyoudou." The boy grinned before he held out his hand. "What's your name?"

Smiling gently, the girl spoke her name. "My name is Akagi Abe," the girl tilted her head. "I guess you can call me Akagi, then."

**TO BE CONTINUED**

* * *

**Author's Note: **Hello, it's me again, Prince Arjuna. So, this is the fourth chapter of Kantai DxD. At first, I thought about giving this chapter a different title, **Fallen Angel Raynare,** but then, a few changes have been made, and it's titled **Selfish Dream** instead. Oh well, I guess it should be alright for the time being. So, another character is introduced in this chapter, which is Akagi. More about her will be revealed in the next chapter, like where she came from? Or why her surname is Abe? Is she related to a certain Abe in DxD?

And here I am, looking away while feigning innocence and whistling.

Also, about Kaga's surname, I took it from the name of the Marshal Admiral of Imperial Japanese Navy during WWII, Isoroku Yamamoto.

So, I hope you'll like this chapter. It's a little shorter than the previous chapters, but I guess this chapter will do for now. Special thanks for **lojzek92,** the beta-reader of this chapter. It is so nice working alongside you, my friend.

Please look forward for the next chapter, **Chapter 05: Aircraft Carrier Akagi.** Stay tuned!

**Prince Arjuna (2015)**


	5. Aircraft Carrier Akagi

"I'm home."

"Welcome back, Admiral."

Issei entered his house and was welcomed by Kaga, who was dressed in plain white shirt and a pair of black shorts. Her side ponytail was undone and her dark brown hair was a little wet. Issei assumed that she had taken a bath earlier.

As Issei looked at the personification of aircraft carrier Kaga before him, he couldn't help himself as he focused on her chest. Noticing this, Kaga blinked a few times, noting that the boy was looking at her breasts intently. Being recently reincarnated into her humanoid form, she had yet to understand the significance of her body parts besides some rudimentary knowledge about them.

"Is something the matter, Admiral?" Kaga asked. "Is there something wrong with my breasts?" When she asked that question, she cupped her breasts with her hands.

Seeing Kaga's mountainous assets being handled in such an erotic way, Issei's jaw hung open and his eyes widened. It took the entirety of his willpower to reign himself before he coughed into his fist, clearing his throat. "I-it's nothing! I think I'm gonna take a bath first! Seeya!"

So, Issei hurriedly left Kaga alone near the door. Bemused, Kaga blinked a few times before she looked at the door. She put on a pair of sandals and opened the door, stepping out of the house.

"I never thought it was you…" Kaga spoke softly as she stepped out of the house. Leaning against a nearby lamppost, there was a girl with long hair, clad in light pink dress. When Kaga saw her, the girl smiled and tilted her head slightly. "It's been a long time since Midway…" Kaga said as she held out her hand before a miniature plane descended from above, landing on her palm. The plane then disappeared in a poof, leaving behind a fairy who also then disappeared in a small explosion after giving Kaga a salute.

"I am glad to meet you once again, Kaga…" The girl said. "I can see that you have your own Admiral," she giggled. "Quite an alright person, I'd say. He's surprisingly quite a softie, you know? A little bit of a perv, though, but I don't really mind." She winked.

"Akagi…" Kaga said the name of the girl. "I do appreciate you looking after him while he's going out a while ago, but how did you manage to gain this form?" She stepped closer to Akagi, studying her. "And how did you manage to live without the corruption? As far as I can tell, both of us are the victims of Midway. Our grudge has yet to be fully dissolved…"

"About that…" Akagi tapped her chin a few times. "I've been around in this form for quite a while. It's been almost a year since I gained this form. I was adopted by a family of beast tamer," she chuckled after saying that. "Well, technically, we are youkai. I don't think it's weird if we are treated like beasts by those people. Still, they treated me like a family member," she grinned. "I also got an Onee-chan too. She taught me how to play tennis."

"I see…" There was a relieved smile on Kaga's face. "I'm glad, Akagi. You are having a good life…"

Then, Akagi looked down. "Still, like you said, the corruption is still inside me. My grudge has yet to be fully dissolved." To prove her point, her body flickered a bit, and her hair and complexion turned white for a few seconds before turning back to normal. "I assume it's the same to you too, Kaga. In order to keep our sanity intact, we need to periodically cleanse ourselves…"

Kaga looked at Akagi, knowing what the other girl was talking about. Even though they were purified, they still could remember their devastating defeat during the Battle of Midway, and it was the source of their grudge. The accumulated grudge would then corrupt them again, causing them to relapse and revert back into their Abyssal forms. And when that happened, they wouldn't be able to distinguish between friends and foes, causing them to destroy everything indiscriminately.

"In case if you need help about this, feel free to ask my help, Kaga," Akagi offered. "Like you, I'm also a student at Kuoh Academy. If you want to see me, just drop by at Tennis Club. I'm sure my Onee-chan will be delighted to see you too. She knows a few things about cleansing methods for us Kanmusu."

Kaga nodded. "Very well, I shall inform my Admiral of this. I'm sure he'll be pleased to hear it," she smiled. Then, she stared at Akagi, and the long-haired Kanmusu blinked and tilted her head.

"What?" Akagi asked.

"Are you happy?" Kaga asked. "Are you happy with your current life? Are you happy that you are no longer alone in your watery grave?"

Akagi smiled softly before she walked over to Kaga's direction, approaching her. "Yes, I am happy. The memories of Midway and the years of loneliness still haunt my dreams, but they won't stop me from being happy and fulfilled. I have a family to take care of me, I have a future to look forward, and now…" She leaned towards Kaga and whispered, "I am no longer alone as a Kanmusu. You and Yamato are here now."

"Akagi…" Kaga said as Akagi brought her hand to stroke her cheek.

"Well, I guess I shall get going, then," Akagi said. "Take care, Kaga. And please look after your Admiral too, okay? He'll need all the supports you can give," she said before she walked away, leaving Kaga alone in front of Hyoudou residence.

Kaga just remained there even after Akagi had disappeared. Then the door was opened before Yamato stepped out of the house, looking at Kaga, who was still standing motionlessly outside the house. "Kaga, why are you still outside? It's cold," she said.

Kaga looked over her shoulder, and saw Yamato's face. "It's nothing. I apologize for making you worry," she said before she turned on her heel and went into the house together with Yamato.

* * *

**Kantai DxD**

**Kantai Collection and High School DxD Crossover**

**Chapter 05: Aircraft Carrier Akagi**

"Hmm… it's strange," Rias mused, sitting on the sofa in the clubroom of Occult Research Club. One of the members of the club, Yuuto Kiba, was preparing some tea, and when he heard Rias' musing, he looked at her and noticed that she was frowning.

"What's the matter, Buchou?" Kiba asked.

"Did you remember what Koneko had reported about the inhuman presences that accompanied Issei Hyoudou?" Rias asked. "About both girls named Yamato Hyoudou and Kaga Yamamoto, I mean." The red-haired girl sighed as she held out the papers she was holding. When Kiba went over to her, serving her a cup of tea, Rias handed the papers to the blond boy. "I've done some investigations regarding these two students, with a little help from Sona."

Kiba read the papers that were handed to him. "So… what did you find out, Buchou?" He asked before he studied the contents of the papers. "Ah," he started to understand what had been bothering the president of the club.

"There were no previous records regarding their existences. It feels like both of them suddenly showed up out of thin air," Rias said before she took a sip of her tea. Then, she continued, "It feels like they suddenly poofed into existence." She put down her cup before she clasped her hands together. "And there is another thing that can explain what they actually are…"

Kiba regarded Rias curiously. "And what would it be?" He asked.

"I did mention to you all that I've been studying about Oriental folklores, right? So, I remember reading something about youkai," Rias said. "It's been mentioned in the books that I have read that sometimes, a youkai's mere existence can affect the fabric of reality itself. Not too much to the point of altering the laws of nature, of course, but still enough to change people's perception of reality." She held out an index finger as she continued her explanation, "That's how youkai usually manage to blend into society without making a fuss, like how youkai like fox demons can disguise themselves into beautiful women and be married with men without being found out."

"Ah, I see what you mean, Buchou…" Kiba said. "Still, that sounds oddly contrived. Are you saying that both Yamato Hyoudou and Kaga Yamamoto are youkai?" He asked.

"Well, wild mass guessing doesn't hurt once in a while, Yuuto," Rias said. "And considering that I've been studying about youkai lately, I'm sticking with this theory until it's proved otherwise. I also came up with other theories too, but I prefer this one."

Kiba suppressed the urge to sigh. Every once in a while, the president of the Occult Research Club would show her rather eccentric side. While he didn't hate it, he still wished that he could get used to it, just like Akeno.

"So, what should we do after this?" Kiba asked. "Am I going to watch them too?"

Rias tilted her head and spoke, "Giving Koneko a little bit of assistance will be nice," she smiled at the boy. "Ever since those two showed up, Koneko has been quite restless." Like Akeno, she also initially thought that it might have something to do with her being in heat. "She did mention that both of them smell weird, just like seawater." Rias brought her left hand to her chin, making a thinking pose. "But why seawater?"

"Seawater, huh?" Kiba mused. He was unsure about the significance of such thing to the origin of the new students, but he was curious nonetheless.

"And another thing…" Rias said. "I've been sending out my familiar to scout the areas around the territory, and while there's nothing out of ordinary, there's some sort of strangeness in the air," she stroked her chin. "I cannot describe it well, to be honest. It feels like something big is going on behind the scene."

Kiba frowned. "Well, doesn't that sound ominous?" He remarked. "How about the Fallen Angels? They have been active around the area lately."

"As long as they are not causing trouble or making fuss that may cause another conflict between the factions, it's better to leave them be," Rias shrugged. Then, she took a sip of the tea that was served to her by Kiba, and raised one of her eyebrows after testing the beverage. "Somehow, this tea tastes different. This tea tastes like cocoa," she commented.

"Ah, this is Yingdehong tea, Buchou," Kiba informed helpfully. "If brewed right, it should have a cocoa-like aroma and a sweet aftertaste," he added.

"I see…" Rias mused before she took another sip of the tea. "Tasty."

* * *

"Yamato…" Kaga spoke to her fellow Kanmusu, Yamato. They were currently in the classroom. Yamato was chatting with Issei when Kaga approached her. It was currently lunchtime.

"Hmm? What is it, Kaga?" Yamato said, looking at Kaga.

"Will it be alright if we talk for a while?" Kaga asked. "There is something that I'd like you to know…"

"Ah…" Yamato studied Kaga's stoic face for a while before she nodded. "Very well," she said as she got up from her seat. She knew that whatever she wanted to tell her, it had to be something important. "Issei, let's talk again later. I'd like to discuss about something with Kaga."

"Oh, sure," Issei said. Well, now that he had no one to talk to, it would be the time for him to talk with his fellow perverts, Matsuda and Motohama.

Yamato followed Kaga as they walked down the hallway before they went upstairs, going to the rooftop where they could have their own discussion without being interrupted. Even if there were other students at the rooftop, they were just minding their own businesses. When they arrived at the rooftop, Kaga turned to face the taller girl before she spoke, "Do you know that there is one active Kanmusu here in this school?"

Yamato raised one eyebrow before she nodded. "Yes, I know. I picked the signals sometime after the first time I came to this place…" She scratched her cheek as she continued, "I didn't inform Admiral regarding this matter because I was so focused on helping him to search for the ship fragments, I forgot to mention about this to him," she admitted sheepishly.

"That Kanmusu already made contact with our Admiral…" Kaga informed, and Yamato gave Kaga an incredulous look.

"R-really?! When?" Yamato asked.

"Last night, when Admiral went out of the house on his own. Because he looked like he wanted to be left alone, I did not accompany him, but I took the liberty of sending out reconnaissance planes and fairies to monitor him," Kaga said. "While I might not be able to act immediately if he were to be attacked, I would be notified of such attack instantly. But that is not the main concern here. Last night, when Admiral went out on his own, he encountered this Kanmusu."

"He encountered this Kanmusu?" Yamato said, parroting Kaga's words.

Kaga nodded. "They did exchange words, but she did not reveal her identity to him. She accompanied him home, and I was able to talk with her. Apparently, she had been active for a year…"

"A year? What ship is she?" Yamato asked.

"Aircraft Carrier Akagi," Kaga said. "Apparently, she materialized into her humanoid form before a beast tamer, and was adopted by the beast tamer's family ever since."

"How could she survive her materialization? She was a victim of Midway, so she had to be deeply corrupted and became an Abyssal…" Yamato believed that Kaga's purification, despite how good it was, was a fluke. And being an Abyssal would mean her existence would be unstable, and would eventually die after rampaging.

"It happened that the beast tamers have their own methods of suppressing the corruption," Kaga said. "I have to periodically cleanse myself in order to keep myself from relapsing, but the beast tamers seem to have some way to purify a corrupted Kanmusu much easier."

"So, you want to meet this beast tamer?" Yamato asked.

"Yes," Kaga nodded. "But, in order to do that, we need to inform Admiral about this first. But, considering that he is a pervert, and apparently the beast tamer who adopted Akagi is a female, this matter needs to be handled delicately." There was a serious look on the shipgirl's face. "It is safe to assume that the beast tamer who had adopted Aircraft Carrier Akagi is her Admiral. If both our Admirals were to establish contact, we have to do it right," she said, again with the serious look on her face.

"Ah, I see what you mean, Kaga…" Yamato nodded. "I understand. We do not want to make everything complicated due to our Admiral's perverse nature." She folded her arms as she nodded again. "But, in order to do so, we need to approach Akagi beforehand. We all need the confirmation regarding the purification method before we can arrange any meeting between our Admirals. Does that sound fine with you, Kaga?"

Kaga nodded in affirmation. "I have no problem with that. Still, we should not leave Admiral's side. But we still need to meet Akagi. Do you have any suggestions on how to accompany Admiral while at the same time, establish contact with Akagi?"

Yamato thought about it for a while. "Do you think reconnaissance planes would be enough to monitor Admiral's activities?"

"Yes, I believe so…" Kaga nodded. "I believe that leaving him be for a while will not hurt." When Kaga said that, Yamato gave her a strange look as she narrowed her eyes. "Hmm? What is it, Yamato?"

"N-no, it's nothing…" Yamato said. "It's just that when you said that, I couldn't help but feel something ominous," she was silent for a few seconds before she shook her head. "No, it's probably just my imagination. Maybe I'm just being paranoid."

Kaga did not make any comments about that before she spoke, "Then, we shall commence our operation after school. Our objective is to establish contact with Aircraft Carrier Akagi to ensure whether we are able to safely allow our Admiral to establish contact with the beast tamer who adopted Akagi or not." Oddly enough, despite the stoic look on Kaga's face, Yamato could hear the hint of giddiness in her fellow shipgirl's voice when she announced that they would be commencing the operation. She assumed that Kaga was excited over the prospect of commencing an operation, even though the operation was just a simple one, like making contact with a fellow shipgirl.

* * *

After school, both Yamato and Kaga told Issei that they had something to do. Thinking that both Kanmusu might have made some friends at school, the perverted boy said he was okay with that, and walked home. As soon as Issei left, Kaga discreetly deployed her planes and fairies to monitor Issei's movements before they went to find where Tennis Club was.

After asking around, they finally got the direction of where the Tennis Club might be. So, both Kanmusu walked side by side towards the direction of the Tennis Club.

"Yamato…" Kaga suddenly said as she walked alongside Yamato. The ponytailed shipgirl blinked as she glanced at the stoic-faced shipgirl.

"Hmm? What is it, Kaga?" Yamato asked. While she might get along with Kaga just fine, it's rare for the serious-looking shipgirl to actually initiate a conversation.

"You've been with Admiral for a long time, right?" Kaga asked.

Yamato tilted her head. "Ah, yes…" She was in her inert, fragment form for a decade before her manifestation as a shipgirl. While she never interacted with him during that period, it could be said that she experienced most of the time together with Issei. "Well, I didn't talk to him, but I could feel our connection every time we were together." There was a happy smile on Yamato's face as she recalled the time when Issei told himself that he would inherit the spirit of Yamato.

As a ship, she represented the heart and soul of the nation. Despite the fact that she was sunken during the war, such a fact never changed.

Yamato stopped walking and brought her hands to her chest, closing her eyes as she recalled her past together with Issei. Sure, she was incapable of talking, or even interacting with Issei during that time, but she was still aware of everything when she was together with him. "It made me feel happy. It was a strange feeling, but I didn't hate it."

"Ah…" Kaga stared at Yamato's face for a while before she said, "I see." She looked down before she added, "That's nice." Then, she looked at Yamato's face again. "…I'm jealous."

"Huh?" Yamato blinked, unsure whether she heard Kaga right or not.

"It's nothing. Let's continue," Kaga said before she continued walking. Yamato just followed her.

As they walked, Kaga suddenly stopped. Yamato frowned.

"What's wrong, Kaga?" Yamato asked.

"My reconnaissance planes picked some strange presences near Admiral…" Kaga said. "They don't seem to be ordinary presences." She turned around and faced Yamato. "Shall we abort operation and go to attend our Admiral?"

"Strange presences?" Yamato furrowed her brow as she heard that from Kaga. "Are those the Fallen Angels?" She recalled the time when she rescued Issei from being killed by a Fallen Angel in the nick of time by materializing into her current, humanoid form.

Kaga seemed unsure. "I do not know, but whatever they might be, we need to put Admiral's safety above all else. Let's go," she walked past Yamato, going to the opposite direction.

"K-Kaga, wait!" Yamato followed the other shipgirl. They walked out of the school ground, leaving the school so that they could find Issei as soon as possible. From the reconnaissance planes that Kaga had deployed, Issei was followed or stalked by something. Both shipgirls could only hope that whatever it was, they would be able to make it to ensure Issei's safety.

* * *

Issei was walking home alone because both Yamato and Kaga seemed to have something to do at school. He was fine with that, because he assumed that both of them had made some friends at school. Both of them were free to do whatever they wanted, because even though they were not humans, they were still people who had their own needs.

He had told himself after a session of introspection at the park last night, about what he wanted to do with the shipgirls he would find. He had already decided that all the Kanmusu were people, not some collectible items. Even though the idea of having a harem of Kanmusu was very appealing for a perverted boy like him, he also wanted to make them happy. The girls had suffered enough thanks to the war long ago. While he was unsure about what to do, he knew that someone had to do something to rescue these girls from their own darkness.

"Heh, easier said than done," Issei muttered to himself. He believed himself to be a rather normal, if perverted boy. There was nothing special about him, no matter how much he wished otherwise. "Still, if there's no one to do this, who else?" He looked at his own palm before he clenched it into a fist.

He had determined to do this. While he might not be able to do much, at the very least, he knew that there might be something that he could do. And he also had both Yamato and Kaga by his side, so even though he believed that he might be weak at the moment, with both of them by his side, he was sure that he could succeed.

"Alright, I've decided!" Issei exclaimed. "I'm gonna put it my all! I'm gonna save all the shipgirls!" While he found out that it sounded strange when he said it out loud, he had already made it clear that he would do his best to reach his goal. While he still wanted to make a harem of Kanmusu, he wanted to do this because he wanted to save them from their sad fate.

He was too preoccupied with his thought to realize that the street he was walking down was devoid of people. It took him a while to realize that the street was strangely empty. He started to have a bad feeling about this, before he heard a familiar voice. Just hearing that voice was enough to send chills down his spine, because he still could remember that voice taunting him a few days ago.

"My, my, you look so happy, Issei-kun. Did something good happen?"

That voice came from behind him. He slowly glanced over his shoulder and let out a choking noise when he saw a black-haired girl standing behind him. The girl was smiling sweetly despite the fact that her whole being was radiating malevolence.

"Y-Yuuma-chan…" Issei muttered.

'Yuuma' giggled when Issei called her. "Thank goodness you still can remember me, Issei-kun! I'm really glad!" She covered her mouth with her hand daintily as she giggled.

Issei could feel his heart beating faster inside his chest. It felt like his heart might end up bursting out of his ribcage at this rate. Just seeing the one who tried to kill him during his first date brought a myriad of emotions inside the boy. But the most prominent among those emotions was fear, and his fear towards this girl was enough to make him rooted on the spot, unable to move even a muscle.

"What's wrong, Issei-kun? Are you afraid?" Yuuma asked, her voice still sounded sweet, but the way she looked at him was condescending. It felt like as if she was looking at a bug needed to be crushed underfoot. "Ah, no wonder you're afraid. You've got no one to protect you this time. That bitch with those enormous cannons isn't here to protect your sorry ass, after all." She laughed. "How pitiful."

Issei wanted to retort, but nothing came out of his mouth. He instinctively brought his hand to the talisman he wore, but he knew that it wouldn't be the same like before. Yamato wouldn't show up to save him this time. He was totally under Yuuma's mercy, and he was sure that she wouldn't show him any.

"Now then," a spear of light appeared in Yuuma's hand. "Let's get this over with, shall we? We're going to finish what we started, okay?" Her grin grew wider, which made her look more inhuman.

Still holding the talisman, Issei still didn't move, or rather, was unable to move. Yuuma twirled her spear of light a few times before he prepared to throw it at him.

"Now, die."

With that, Yuuma threw the spear towards him. Still rooted on the spot where he was standing on, he just closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable. In less than a second, he would die.

But strangely, it didn't hurt.

"What?!"

Issei could hear Yuuma's voice shouting in surprise. He opened his eyes and saw a familiar-looking beehive-patterned barrier in front of him. The spear of light that Yuuma threw at him earlier was on the ground, dissipating into nothingness.

"T-this is…" Issei looked at the barrier. "Yamato?"

"Nope."

There was a voice which was decidedly wasn't Yamato's before both Issei and Yuuma heard the sounds of footsteps. Then, a person came into their views. It was a girl clad in pink dress, and she was smiling as she approached them.

Issei recognized the girl. He met her last night at the park. When he tried to remember her name, Yuuma glared at her.

"W-who the hell are you?! How did you get through the barrier I made?!"

The girl with long dark brown hair giggled before she spoke, "Oh, I broke through. Sure, it might be able to stop people from entering, but it won't stop someone like me." Then, she looked at Issei. "Are you alright, Issei-kun? Did she hurt you?"

"I-I'm alright!" Issei answered. He finally remembered her name. She introduced herself as Akagi Abe.

The girl, Akagi, smiled. "I'm glad." Then, she looked back at Yuuma. "Now, what do we have here?" She studied Yuuma's look. Yuuma let out a growl as she conjured another spear of light. "A Fallen Angel, huh? It's my first time seeing one, to be honest."

"Who the hell are you?!" Yuuma screamed, conjuring another spear.

"Ah, where are my manners? My name is Akagi Abe. I'm a second-year student at Kuoh Academy. I'm a member of Tennis Club, and my hobbies are eating and archery." Then, she closed her eyes before her whole body glowed. For a moment, her pink dress vanished and was immediately replaced by a new attire, which consisted of a white gi and a red short hakama. She also wore a black muneate over her chest. Her clothing reminded Issei of Kaga's, only that Kaga's short hakama was blue while hers was red. Her thigh-high stockings were white in color, while Kaga's were black.

"Y-you…!" Yuuma's eyes widened upon seeing the transformation.

An archery bow materialized in Akagi's gloved right hand. "But, I suppose that is not important right now. As you can see, this boy is under my protection, and it won't do to have him harmed, especially by the likes of you." With her left hand, she conjured an arrow out of thin air. "I suggest you to withdraw. I have no intention in harming anyone right now."

"Tch, shut the hell up!" Yuuma bellowed. "Who do you think you are, ordering me, Raynare, like that?!"

Akagi sighed. "It cannot be helped, then." She then spoke to Issei, "Will you stand behind me for a bit, Issei-kun? Things may get a little messy."

As she said that, she nocked the arrow onto the bowstring before she drew the string of the bow back.

"1st Carrier Division, Akagi, sortie!"

**TO BE CONTINUED**

* * *

**Author's Note:** Finally, an update! This is me, Prince Arjuna. I'm sorry for the lack of update. I've been busy with stuff like college and some other things, so forgive me for being busy in real life. Anyways, this is the Chapter 5 of Kantai DxD, and I hope you'll like it. I'm hoping you guys will like this chapter, and in the next chapter, there will be action scenes. Please look forward for it.

Also, special thanks for **lojzek91** for beta-reading this chapter. It's so good to work alongside you, buddy. Please look forward for the next chapter, **Chapter 06: Memories of Midway.** Until then, farewell.

**Prince Arjuna (2015)**


	6. Memories of Midway

"1st Carrier Division, Akagi, sortie!"

Akagi launched an arrow from her bow, firing it towards the Fallen Angel. Frantically, the Fallen Angel, Raynare, conjured a spear of light and used it to block the incoming arrow. The moment the arrow made contact with her spear, spear, it released a bright flash that momentarily blinded her.

"Gah!" Raynare stumbled back. "D-damn you!" The moment when she began to recover, she saw another incoming arrow, which she barely blocked with her spear. "Don't underestimate me, you bitch!" Raynare yelled before she hurled her spear at Akagi.

"I don't underestimate you, Fallen Angel," Akagi said simply as she let her barrier block the incoming spear. It fell onto the ground before dissipating. "I see you as a threat. Please kindly remove yourself from here immediately, or else I will have to do something more drastic for a threat like you…" She nocked another arrow and drew the bowstring back. "I won't allow you to harm Issei Hyoudou, no matter what…"

Raynare scrunched up her face and spat, "Don't tell me what to do! I'll finish what I started, and soon, Azazel-sama will shower me with his love and praises! I won't let you stand in my way, bitch!"

"Well, I'm sorry that I have to keep standing in your way, then…" Akagi said. Then she released her arrow.

Raynare braced herself for the incoming arrow, but she was surprised when the arrow went up instead of going straight to her. Then, it exploded and was replaced by four miniature aircrafts. They zoomed over to Raynare before dropping something. When Raynare realized that they were dropping bombs, she brought both her arms up, covering her face when they landed near her. The explosions that happened caused her to scream in both frustration and pain.

"Issei-kun, let's get away from here while she's distracted," Akagi said to Issei as she grabbed his hand.

"A-alright!" Issei nodded and followed after the girl. He glanced over his shoulder to look at Raynare, who was trying to recover her bearing after having those bombs dropped around her. She did not realize that both of them were running away from her while she was distracted.

With Akagi tugging him along, both of them escaped the area and went to a place which seemed safer. They began to see a few people, so Raynare wouldn't be able to mindlessly attack them if she were able to track them down.

"This should be far enough…" Akagi said, still holding Issei's hand. "Are you hurt, Issei-kun?"

"N-no, I'm not…" Issei shook his head. He felt that Akagi's hand was soft and warm when he touched it.

"Well, now that we're safe, let's take a walk," Akagi said. In a flash, her white gi and short red hakama reverted back into the pink dress that she wore earlier. For some reasons, the other passers-by didn't pay any attention to the shift. "You don't mind if I continue holding your hand, do you?" She held Issei's arm with both hands, and Issei could feel his arm squished between her breasts.

It was such a euphoric feeling to have his arm wedged between Akagi's breasts, and Issei couldn't help but have a big grin plastered on his face.

"Oh my, do you like having your arm squeezed between my breasts, Issei-kun?" Akagi giggled. "You're such a perv, you know~?"

"I-it feels nice! Your boobs are the best, Akagi-san!" Issei exclaimed.

Akagi chuckled. "I'm not sure how to respond to that, but I suppose I'm grateful to hear such a praise…" Then, she let go of his arm. "Now, I'm sure that you have a lot of questions to ask, Issei-kun."

"Questions? Oh, uh…" Issei looked down. "A-Akagi-san, are you… uh…"

"A Kanmusu?" Akagi guessed. "Is that what you wanted to know?" She waited for Issei's response and smiled when he nodded. "Well, the answer is yes, I am a Kanmusu, just like both Yamato-san and Kaga-san."

"Y-you know about them?" Issei asked.

"Well, considering that their names are the names of the Japanese warships during the WWII era, with one of them being the famous Japanese battleship Yamato, it's hard not to make a connection," Akagi shrugged. "Also, while Yamato-san and Kaga-san might never mention this to you, we Kanmusu are able to sense each other's presence," she tapped the side of her head. "Radar, you see? We may seem like humans to you, but ultimately, we are simply the humanized ships…"

"I-I see…" Issei mused. "B-but… why did you save me?" He asked.

"Because if I did not save you, both Yamato-san and Kaga-san would be sad…" Akagi answered. "C'mon, Issei-kun. Let's pretend that we're a couple. If we blend in, that Fallen Angel won't be able to find us," she showed Issei a cheeky grin. "And as my pretend boyfriend, you need to buy me, your pretend girlfriend, some foods. I can see a lot of food stalls around the park…" She looked at one particular stall that was selling crepe. "You don't mind, right?"

"A-a date?" Issei was too surprised to even say anything coherent. A while ago, he was threatened by his ex-girlfriend, and then he was saved by a girl who was actually a Kanmusu. Then, in order to hide themselves from his ex-girlfriend, they had to blend in by pretending to be a couple. And Issei noted that despite her rather whimsical attitude, this Akagi was actually fairly attractive, and like Yamato and Kaga, she was quite beautiful.

"Also, this is my first date, so from now on until it's over, please treat me kindly," Akagi said as she tugged Issei to the stall that she was looking earlier. "Let's buy some food!"

This was quite a fast development for Issei, but he couldn't find it in himself to actually complain. He got to hang out with a pretty girl like Akagi, even if it's only a pretend so that they could escape Raynare. Well, he's not going to let such a tiny detail hindering him from enjoying this date. And with Akagi with him, he wouldn't have to worry about getting himself ambushed by his ex-girlfriend.

Still, if only he could protect himself…

If only he could be stronger…

Unnoticed by him, his left hand that was held by Akagi glowed a bit. The green glow disappeared before any of them could notice it.

* * *

**Kantai DxD**

**Kantai Collection and High School DxD Crossover**

**Chapter 06: Memories of Midway**

"Ah, this is heaven!" Akagi exclaimed after taking a bite of her banana crepe. Issei bought it for her, and he also bought one for himself. Both of them looked like a couple as they walked alongside each other. Granted, it's only a pretend, but it's so that they could blend in with other couples in order to avoid being detected by Raynare, Issei's psychotic ex-girlfriend who happened to be a Fallen Angel.

Issei smiled after munching on his crepe as he looked at Akagi. He knew that they were just pretending in order to stay safe, but it didn't stop him from being delighted. After all, Akagi was a beautiful girl, her eccentricity notwithstanding. In fact, her eccentricity made her look more appealing.

"Akagi-chan, thanks for coming to my rescue…" Issei expressed his gratitude to Akagi as they walked. "If you weren't there, I might have died already…"

"Don't mention it, Issei-kun," Akagi said, smiling at him. "I was there, so it's only natural for me to help you out. And both Kaga-san and Yamato-san would be sad if I were to leave you to die."

"Uh, still… thanks," Issei said. Then, he sighed. "Still… it's kinda frustrating, you know?" He looked on his palm. "If only I have enough power to defend myself… then you'd never have to risk yourself to rescue me…"

Akagi frowned. "What do you mean, Issei-kun?"

"I'm weak…" Issei said. "I already swore to save every single Kanmusu I can find, and yet… I don't have enough strength to even protect myself…" He balled his fist. He was angry at himself for being such a weakling. If only he could do something to defend himself, he wouldn't have to rely on others.

While it's true that he was grateful for being saved, he couldn't help but feel bitter when he's the one who's often being rescued while having the shipgirls risking their lives for his sake.

"…Are you going back on your words?" Akagi asked.

"Hmm?" Issei looked at his pretend girlfriend. "What do you mean?"

"The things you told me last night…" Akagi said. "Didn't you promise that you will save the Kanmusu from their suffering? Didn't you swear that you will pull them out of the abyss of despair?" Somehow, there was a flash of red in Akagi's dark brown eyes. "Are you going to give them up?"

"I…" Issei stared into Akagi's eyes before he closed his eyes. Then, after taking a deep breath, he reopened them and said, "No… I will not give up…"

Akagi smiled.

"I know that I'm weak right now, but… I'll find some ways to improve myself," Issei said. "Both Kaga-chan and Yamato-chan have great faith in me, and I won't let them down by giving up." He brought up his right hand, thumping it on his chest. "I swear I will rescue them from their watery graves!" He grinned. "It's probably going to be difficult, but I will not give up!"

"I'm glad to hear that…" Akagi said, nodding her head a few times. "You will make a very great Admiral, Issei-kun."

Issei laughed sheepishly as he heard that.

"Now, this should be far enough…" Akagi said after observing their surroundings. "Let's get out of this place while we still have our chance. That Fallen Angel won't be able to track us down at this rate, so we should be fine. It was fun hanging out with you, Issei-kun," she smiled at him.

"Y-yeah, I'm glad t-to hear that," Issei said. He was a little disappointed that their date was almost over, but at least he was glad that Akagi was having fun with him. He still remembered Raynare's words when she revealed herself as a Fallen Angel who wanted to kill him, and it sure did a number to his confidence and self-esteem.

As both of them walked down the street, Issei noticed something strange. Other people were nowhere to be seen as they continued walking further down the street. He could feel Akagi's hand tensing. It seemed that she also noticed that something weird was going on.

"Akagi-chan…" Issei spoke to the Kanmusu.

"I made a severe miscalculation…" Akagi said grimly. "I led you here under the impression that the Fallen Angel was on her own." She let Issei's hand go. "I did not consider the possibility of her bringing her companions along."

"T-then…" Issei gulped before he heard the sounds of footsteps. Then, a figure revealed itself. It was a young girl clad in frilly Gothic Lolita dress. Despite her cute look, there was definitely something wrong with her.

"Got you," the young girl said, sticking her tongue out. A pair of black wings then emerged from her back.

Before both Issei and Akagi could step back, they heard more footsteps before an adult woman showed up. Clad in a rather provocative outfit, she smiled as she licked her lips sensually. With the young girl standing in front of them and the adult woman standing behind them, they had nowhere to escape.

"Took you long enough to show up," then, a voice spoke before a middle-aged man clad in dark trenchcoat over a white dress shirt showed up. He adjusted his black fedora and said, "Well, I guess convincing Raynare to let us be stationed here was worth the effort." He held out his left hand, conjuring a spear of light. "Kid, you better not take this personally. You're going to die here."

And shortly after that, a figure dropped from above, landing in a crouching position, feet wide apart. It was Raynare, a little singed due to Akagi's attack earlier but otherwise uninjured. One hand was on the ground, supporting her weight before she picked herself up. "Don't think you can escape us." She expanded her black wings and held out both hands, conjuring two spears of light. Then, she glared at Akagi. "You will pay for humiliating me, bitch. I'll make your death as painful as possible…"

As for Akagi, she was no longer in her pink dress. Clad in a white gi and red hakama, with a black muneate covering her chest, she held out her hand, and her archery bow appeared. She then conjured an arrow. They were surrounded by four enemies, and because Issei was unable to do anything, she was on her own.

As an aircraft carrier, she needed to have escorts while sailing. Despite her prowess in archery, she knew that ultimately, she's no match against all these murderous Fallen Angels.

"Issei-kun, I'll make an opening for you…" Akagi told Issei as they stood back-to-back. "Once I give you a signal, run as fast as you can." Despite the situation, she still managed to smile. "Truth be told, I'm no match against them. I'm an aircraft carrier, remember? I cannot fight alone, but if I distract them, I'm sure you'll be able to escape."

"W-what? No! You can't do that!" Issei protested. "You'll die!"

"That's unfortunate, but that's how it goes…" Akagi sighed. "Well, it's been a good time, living as a girl…" She nocked the arrow on the bowstring and prepared to launch it. All the Fallen Angels surrounding them had already conjured their spears of light.

Then, she launched the arrow. Instead of firing it at one of the enemies, she launched the arrow to the sky. That alone was enough to distract the Fallen Angels, and Akagi immediately shouted to Issei.

"Go!"

Having no choice, Issei obliged and ran as fast as he could. He ran past the young girl, shoving her, causing her to let out a yelp of pain. He mustered his strength into his legs as he ran. He gritted his teeth as he did so, cursing his weakness and inability to do anything in this kind of situation.

Raynare, who realized that Issei managed to run away, shouted to the others, "Chase him!" Then, she barreled over to Akagi, closing the distance between the two of them. Both her spears were primed at the Kanmusu and she intended to skewer her with both.

As for Akagi, she conjured two arrows in one hand. Instead of using her bow, she threw the arrows like darts at both the middle-aged man and the adult woman, who were about to chase after the fleeing Issei. Both of them were distracted by the arrows as they dodged them, which allowed Issei to run away even further. But that exposed Akagi to Raynare as she closed in with both spears in hands.

"Got you!" Raynare shouted, skewering Akagi right on her back. The Kanmusu let out a pained scream when the spears of light protruded out of her chest, piercing through her muneate. With a sadistic grin on her face, Raynare twisted the spear, and the Kanmusu cried out in pain before the Fallen Angel pulled the spears out.

Hearing Akagi's scream, Issei immediately stopped and looked behind. He was far enough, but he was able to see Akagi being stabbed by Raynare.

"AKAGI!" Without thinking, he spun on his heel and rushed back to where he came from. Akagi was hurt, and he needed to do something.

Despite having two holes on her body, Akagi remained standing. Instead of blood, some kind of black liquid leaked out of those two holes. The Kanmusu also coughed up the same liquid. Still, she remained standing.

But Raynare wasn't done. She grabbed a fistful of Akagi's hair before she slammed her head against the ground. Due to her strength as a Fallen Angel, it was enough to break the ground when she slammed Akagi's head against it.

As for Issei, before he could reach them, the young girl that he shoved aside earlier slammed her body against his. The force of her tackle was enough to send him back flying. When he was on the ground, the young girl landed on him, straddling him. Somehow, he was unable to get up when she was sitting on top of him.

"Now… this is what you get for standing in my way…" Raynare stepped on Akagi's wound, causing her to scream some more. Akagi was lying face down when Raynare did that. "How do you like it, hmm? You like it, don't you? Here, have some more!" She stomped on the wound again, and the downed Akagi let out an agonized scream.

"N-no… no… NO! L-leave her alone!" Issei cried out. Due to the young girl sitting on top of him, he was unable to see Akagi being tortured by Raynare, but he was able to hear her screams.

"Be a good boy and stay quiet, Issei-kun," Raynare purred as she spoke to Issei in sweet voice. "Your turn will be next, so stay put for a while, 'kay?" Then, she looked down on the one she was currently torturing. "Now, let's end this…" Holding a spear of light in one hand, she lifted the spear, aiming to stab Akagi right in on the back of her head.

Issei was unable to do anything when he heard the sound of the spear piercing through Akagi's head. He couldn't see it, but the sound alone was enough for him to know what happened to the Kanmusu.

"N-no… not her…" Issei muttered. "W-why…?"

Chuckling, Raynare left the spear that pinned Akagi's head on the ground as she approached Issei. "Now… what should I do to you?" The young girl got up before she forced him to his knees. The middle-aged man and the adult woman restrained him as he did so. In that position, Issei was able to see Akagi's prone form lying on the ground, with a spear sticking out the back of her head.

"Y-you…" Issei glared at Raynare. "Y-you killed her!"

"Duh," Raynare said, shrugging. "What did you think I'd do to her? Befriend her?" Then, she stroked Issei's cheek in loving manner before she giggled. "Now, Issei-kun, you've been quite a problematic child to us. If only you could just accept your death, then this sort of thing might have never happened…"

"Y-you'll pay for this…" Issei growled. "I swear I'll make you pay…"

Raynare laughed. "And how will you do that? You're weak! You're worthless! But… with your death, Azazel-sama will notice my accomplishment, and he will shower me with praises that I deserve." After stroking Issei's face, Raynare conjured a spear in one hand. "Now… let me repeat my question…" Smiling sweetly, she said, "Will you die for me?"

Before Issei could respond to that, a voice spoke.

"Dying is usually inconvenient, so I figure he may refuse."

"Huh?" Raynare glanced over her shoulder, and gasped when she saw Akagi, standing on her feet. Her spear was still pierced through Akagi's head before the Kanmusu grabbed the shaft of the spear with her hand. In one fluid motion, she pulled it out and tossed it aside.

"H-how?" Raynare stared at Akagi in disbelief. Despite being stabbed through her head, Akagi was still alive. "How are you still alive?!"

Smiling, Akagi replied, "It takes more than a spear in the head to sink a ship, you know?" She brought her hand to the gaping wound on her head. "Still, it's giving me a headache. I think I'm starting to hallucinate now."

Turning to face Akagi, Raynare shouted, "S-still, you can't hope to match me!"

"Are you sure?" Akagi tilted her head. "Well, you better start minding your head now…"

"Huh? What the hell are you talking abo-" before she could finish, she was hit by an exploding arrow on the side of her head. While the arrow didn't stab her through her head, the explosion that occurred when it collided against the side of her head was enough to send the Fallen Angel reeling.

The other Fallen Angels looked at where the arrow came from, and they saw a girl holding a bow. Like Akagi, she also wore a white gi with a black muneate covering her chest. She wore a blue hakama instead of the red one like Akagi's. Standing beside her was another girl with massive cannons, and all of them were aimed at the Fallen Angels.

"Kaga-chan… Yamato-chan…" Issei was relieved to see them both. Then he suddenly was whisked away by Akagi, who then ran over to both Kaga and Yamato. Despite her grievous injuries, she was still able to move, though there was a noticeable gait when she moved.

"Gkh…" Groaning, Raynare shook her head. Her head was covered in soot due to the explosion earlier.

"Give it up," Yamato said as she looked at the Fallen Angels sternly. "If you wish to keep your bodies whole and intact, please kindly remove yourself from this place. If you refuse to comply, I, Yamato, shall personally have every single one of you destroyed."

'Grr…" Throwing the shipgirls one last glare, Raynare shouted to her fellow Fallen Angels. "Dohnaseek! Kalawarner! Mittelt! We're leaving!" And with that, she flew away, leaving her black feathers scattered. The others followed after her, leaving the area.

Seeing that the Fallen Angels had left, Kaga immediately dropped her bow and rushed to Akagi's side. "Akagi-san!" She gasped when she saw how severe Akagi's wounds were. "This is bad! She needs to get herself docked immediately!"

"K-Kaga-san?" Akagi looked at Kaga. "Haha… are you worried about me?" Then, she fell on her knees. "Ngh!"

Akagi's body trembled as she brought her hands to her head.

"I-it's… it's coming!" Akagi cried out as she clutched on her head.

"W-what's wrong?!" Panicking, Issei shouted.

"N-no… no! No!" Akagi cried as she fell to the ground. "Keep them away from me!"

"Akagi-san…" Kaga tried her best to calm the Kanmusu down.

"G-Grey… Grey Ghost…" Akagi muttered. "She's here… n-no… she's here… I can see her... she wants to kill me… just like she did to others…"

"She's recalling some past events… I assume it's the Battle of Midway…" Yamato said, also trying her best to calm Akagi down. "Grey Ghost?"

Kaga's expression hardened. "USS Enterprise…" She spat out the name in distaste. Issei, being a warship otaku, recognized that name. USS Enterprise was one of the most decorated US warship of WWII. Due to her exploits during the war, she was infamously nicknamed the 'Grey Ghost' by the Japanese. "Akagi-san…" Kaga spoke to the trembling Akagi. "Calm down… she's not here anymore…" She said as she rubbed Akagi's back tenderly.

"S-scuttled…" Akagi muttered some more. "I-I'm going to be scuttled… n-no… p-put the torpedo launchers away, Maikaze, Hagikaze!" She began to sob. "P-please don't scuttle me! No! No! P-please… I don't want to die!"

"What should we do?" Yamato asked. "We can't just leave her like this…"

"It seems that we have no choice…" Kaga sighed. "We need to come into contact with her Admiral."

"Her Admiral?" Issei blinked in bemusement.

"Yes, her commanding officer," Kaga nodded to Issei. "Just like us who have you as our Admiral, Akagi-san also has her own Admiral. We need to bring her there."

"Still, we don't know who her Admiral is…" Yamato said.

"But that's the only choice we have…" Kaga reasoned as she glanced at Akagi, who's mumbling incoherently while trembling on the ground. "She will break down completely if left unattended."

Then, Yamato perked her head up. "I sense a presence!"

"Fallen Angel?" Kaga immediately picked up her bow.

"No, it's not a Fallen Angel…" Yamato closed her eyes, trying to concentrate on the presence she detected via her radar. "It's… a horse?"

"Horse?" Kaga frowned. Then they heard the sounds of a horse whinnying before they saw a black horse coming to their way. Three of them blinked, not expecting to see a horse at that moment. Luckily, no people were around them when the horse appeared.

There were two people on the horse. One of them was an armored figure who was somehow lacking a head. The other one was a schoolgirl who immediately dismounted and rushed over to Akagi.

"Akagi-chan!" The schoolgirl exclaimed. "Oh gosh, this is bad!" She took out something from her pocket. It was a talisman that was almost exactly like the one Issei wore around his neck. "Here, hold this!"

When Akagi held the talisman, her body suddenly glowed before she disappeared.

"W-what happened to her?" Issei asked.

"She's returning to her true body, which is this…" The schoolgirl showed Issei the talisman. "This talisman contains the shard of aircraft carrier Akagi. Let's just say she's currently in hibernation mode? She'll be fine, I tell you that."

"Uh, okay?" Issei then looked at the schoolgirl's face. "By the way, who are you?" He asked. He noted that she was quite busty and her curly hair was brown in color.

"I'm glad you ask," the schoolgirl beamed happily. "By the way, it's my pleasure to finally meet you, battleship Yamato, aircraft carrier Kaga," she said to the shipgirls who were with them.

"Umm… I, Yamato, am glad to m-meet you as well," Yamato replied to her awkwardly.

"L-likewise," Kaga bowed her head. "But who might you be?"

"Ah, sorry that I forgot to introduce myself," the schoolgirl said apologetically. "My name is Kiyome Abe, and I am Akagi's Admiral. Nice to meet you!"

**TO BE CONTINUED**

* * *

**Author's Note: **Finally, it's finished. I'm sorry for the long delay, but here it is. A rather action-oriented chapter, I hope you guys like this one. And about Issei being useless, don't worry about it. Soon, he's gonna take many levels of badass, and considering that he's still a vanilla human in this fic, I'll find a way for him to reach the levels of badassness later. Also, at first I wanted to name this chapter **Fallen Angel Raynare**, but then, after I'm done writing this chapter, I instead named this chapter **Memories of Midway.**

Special thanks for **lojzek91** for beta-reading this chapter. It's nice working with you, my friend. So, I hope you guys read and review this chapter, since this author needs some motivations to write the next chapter. Tune in for the next chapter, **Chapter 07: Gathering Clouds.** Until then, farewell.

**Prince Arjuna (2016)**


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